South Asian Male Studies
Course Syllabus
Ravi Bajnath
Professor Tommy J. Curry holds a Personal Chair in Africana Philosophy and Black Male Studies at the University of Edinburgh and is a leading scholar in this field. His work, particularly his award-winning book The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood, argues for the creation of Black Male Studies as a distinct field to examine the specific ways in which racialized men and boys are subjected to death, dying, and various forms of violence. Lending this thought to South Asian males, we will explore an underrepresented psychic schema.
This self-directed online course offers a critical exploration of the construction, performance, and experience of masculinity in South Asian and diasporic contexts. Moving beyond simplistic stereotypes, we will employ a decolonial lens to examine how history, power, and representation have shaped South Asian male identities. Drawing from the framework of Black Male Studies, postcolonial theory, and South Asian historiography, we will investigate topics including colonial legacies, psychological trauma, the model minority myth, and the dynamics of patriarchy and resistance.
🪸 Sustainability Rhizome
An educational framework connecting intersecting parts of our Curriculum.
✴️ Symbiotic
Psychic Schema (Symbiotic)To create a culture where people experience life as inherently meaningful and interconnected.
🪷 Community Praxis
Curriculum: "The Art of Belonging"
- Foundation Course: Principles of inclusive community, cultural humility, and identity development
- Role Specialization: Training for each of the 6 identity and engagement roles
- Advanced Bridge-Weaving: Complex conflict mediation, historical reconciliation, systemic inclusion design
- Cultural Continuity & Innovation: Balancing heritage preservation with cultural evolution
🤌 Community Planning
- "Identity Journey Simulation": Exploring different cultural perspectives and experiences
- Bridge-Weaving Dojo: Practice sessions for facilitating cross-cultural understanding
- Welcome Ritual Design Lab: Creating personalized inclusion ceremonies
- Rootedness Immersion: Deep connection practices with local bioregion and community history
🪸 Global initiatives
Civil Society
Social & Spirituality
Reduced Inequalities
Goals-E
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🎓 Academic Fields
🎓 Philosophy
🎓 Gender and Race Studies
🎓 Cultural History
🗄️ Modules
🗄️ Orientation
Foundations for a Field: Why South Asian Male Studies?
Module #
1
This foundational module establishes why studying South Asian masculinities as a specific subject matters.
View Module🗄️ Lecture Series
Historical Constructions - Colonialism and the Reshaping of South Asian Masculinity
Module #
2
This module is crucial because understanding the past illuminates the present. The mental health struggles, identity negotiations, and relationship patterns that South Asian men navigate today have deep historical roots. By the end of this module, you'll be able to trace direct lines from colonial policies to contemporary experiences.
View Module🗄️ Self-Directed
Contemporary Manifestations & Psychological Legacies
Module #
3
This module moves from historical analysis to lived experience. You'll examine mental health crises, the modern double bind of stereotypes, emotional survival mechanisms, and emerging frameworks for healing. By the end, you'll understand not just what happened historically, but how those patterns live in South Asian men's bodies, minds, and relationships today.
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Agency, Resistance & Cultural Production
Module #
4
Modules 1-3 focused heavily on what has been done to South Asian men—colonial dismantling, racialized exclusion, stereotyping, trauma. This historical and psychological analysis is crucial, but incomplete. Module 4 shifts focus to agency and resistance. South Asian men have never been passive victims. Throughout history and into the present, they have organized politically, built institutions, created art, challenged narratives, and constructed alternative models of masculinity and community.
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Healing, Reclamation, and Futurities
Module #
5
Module 5 synthesizes this knowledge into practical frameworks for transformation. How do we move from analysis to healing? From understanding oppression to building liberation? From recognizing trauma to creating wellness?
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Applied Interventions and Future Directions
Module #
6
Module 6, the final module, translates this knowledge into action. How do you apply these concepts to create real-world change? What does community-engaged research look like? How do you design effective interventions? What practical tools support transformation?
View Module🗄️ Self-Directed
Indo-Caribbean Masculinities: Reclaiming the Twice-Displaced
Module #
7
By the end of this module, you'll understand how Indo-Caribbean masculinities offer not just a case study, but a fundamental reimagining of South Asian Male Studies itself—one that centers the global, the historical, and the creolized rather than the exceptionalist, the recent, and the preserved.
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📚 Recommended Literature
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