142234 UE Opium & Empire: India's opium industry in the long 19th century (2021W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 14 - Orientalistik, Afrikanistik, Indologie und Tibetologie

Continuous assessment of course work

ON-SITE

Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Registration is open from We 01.09.2021 08:00 to We 29.09.2021 10:00
Deregistration possible until Su 31.10.2021 23:59

Details

max. 17 participants

Language: English

Lecturers

Rolf Bauer

Classes

When: Tuesdays, 13:00–14:30.
First Session: 5 October 2021
Where: SR 6 at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, Spitalgasse 2, Courtyard 2, 1090 Vienna.

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Opium has had a long history in South Asia as both a medicinal and recreational drug. However, it was only under British rule that it became a major item of trade. In this course we look at the rise and fall of this notorious industry through the lens of social and economic history. While academic books and papers form the core of our reading list, we supplement these texts with a novel by Amitav Ghosh: Sea of Poppies (2008). We will also work with a major primary source on this topic – the Report of the Royal Commission on Opium (1895).

For a detailed schedule and the reading list follow this link:
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/rolf.bauer/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Schedule_Opium_Empire.pdf

Assessment and permitted materials

Participation in class 25%
Presentation 25%
Essay I (1000 words) 25%
Essay II (1000 words) 25%

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

- You can miss class max. 3 times.
- Both the presentation an the two essays are mandatory

>= 87,5% very good (1)
>= 75% good (2)
>= 62,5% satisfactory (3)
>= 50% sufficient (4)
< 50% deficient (5)

Examination topics

*Update: The presentation and the essays are based on our weekly readings.

Reading list