Seminar on Hindi and Urdu Periodicals
Asian 498A
Winter 2026
Instructor: Prof. Jennifer Dubrow
Office: M212 Gowen Hall
Email: jdubrow@uw.edu
Office hours: F 4-5 PM and by appointment. Zoom ID for office hour: https://washington.zoom.us/j/91021875820
Class Times and Place: TTh 2:30-4:20 PM PST in 278 Mary Gates Hall
Course description:
This advanced graduate seminar focuses on working with Hindi and Urdu periodicals, particularly women's magazines. Articles, advertisements, and visual elements will be considered. We will also read some of the most important recent secondary sources on periodicals related to our primary texts.
This course is intended for graduate students with advanced proficiency in Hindi or Urdu.
Course Learning Objectives:
- To produce a conference length paper to be delivered at the University of Chicago March 5-6
- Survey Hindi and Urdu women's magazines from the early to mid 20th-century
- Discover areas for potential new research by reading recent secondary materials and applying them to original periodicals
Grading: The final grade for S ASIA 498A is based on the following factors:
- Selecting materials for and leading class discussion on significant issues in 20th-century Hindi and Urdu periodicals (40%);
- A conference length paper analyzing crafts and women's labor in Urdu women's magazines (35%);
- Participating in class discussion on secondary sources (15%);
- Preparing to write a brief (4-5 pages double-spaced) essay on key features of 20th-century Hindi and Urdu women's magazines and how women's crafts and labor is represented in them.
Course Policies:
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity:
The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask me. I am willing to discuss questions you might have.
Acts of academic misconduct may include but are not limited to:
- Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams and discussion submissions, sharing answers, and previewing quizzes/exams)
- Plagiarism (using in your own work the creations, ideas, words, inventions, or work of someone else without formally acknowledging them through the use of quotation marks, footnotes, bibliography, or other reference)
- Unauthorized collaboration (working with each other on assignments)
Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred for investigation and adjudication by (include information for specific campus office).
Students found to have engaged in academic misconduct may receive a zero on the assignment (or other possible outcome).
No use of any AI tool, including Chat GPT, is allowed in this course. Assignments that have been found to have used AI tools, including Chat GPT, will be given a zero. AI tools provide a generic, lower-level analysis of artistic works based on a conglomeration of information available on the internet. They flatten detail and nuance, whereas our goal is to deepen our analysis. Moreover, this course is focused on developing our own critical positions toward difficult artistic works. Chat GPT is also not good at brainstorming or developing original ideas. Finally, when Chat GPT isn't sure about something, it will fabricate its own answers and sources.
Student Conduct:
The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals. Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution. More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/
Safety:
Call SafeCampus at 206-685-7233 anytime – no matter where you work or study – to anonymously discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. SafeCampus’s team of caring professionals will provide individualized support, while discussing short- and long-term solutions and connecting you with additional resources when requested.
Access and Accommodations:
Your experience in this class is important to me. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course.
If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.
Religious Accommodations:
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/) (Links to an external site.). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/) (Links to an external site.).
Other Resources:
Novel coronavirus & COVID-19: facts and resourcesLinks to an external site.
LiveWell Links to an external site.
The Counseling CenterLinks to an external site.