PhD in History - South Asia in Santa Barbara United States | University of California, Santa Barbara

South Asia as an academic region encompasses the contemporary countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan, and Myanmar. With approximately 1.8 billion inhabitants, it represents the world's most densely populated geographical and cultural area. The region also boasts extraordinary linguistic variety, hosting about 650 languages from four major language families: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, and Tibeto-Burman. This diversity has fostered rich literary and historical traditions, making South Asia pivotal to historical scholarship across ancient, medieval, and modern eras. Significant South Asian diaspora communities now live across Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Australia, Pacific islands, and Africa.
Our History Department features robust expertise in modern South Asian history, exploring broad themes in social, economic, and cultural developments both within the region and across the Indian Ocean world. Faculty members investigate critical historical themes including gender, religion, class, politics, and labor, utilizing interdisciplinary approaches that incorporate anthropology, feminist political economy, and religious studies. The department further enhances its offerings through faculty specializing in British Empire history, Middle Eastern studies, and African history. Collaborative relationships with South Asia experts in Global Studies and Religious Studies, as well as scholars teaching South Asia-related content in Film/Media Studies and Political Science, strengthen our program's interdisciplinary and transnational focus. For doctoral candidates specializing in South Asian history, the department provides six qualifying courses that fulfill examination requirements as primary, secondary, or tertiary fields in the Ph.D. program.