Manan Ahmed

The course made me think in completely new ways. I learned something new every session, and was always excited to attend class. It was incredibly intellectually stimulating, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. While every history major should certainly take the class, so should people from outside the department, because the range of perspectives people were able to bring to class made it truly exceptional. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2025 Course: HISTGR8495_001_2025_1-BORDERLANDSHISTORYCOLLOQUIUM : BORDERLANDS HISTORY COLLOQUIUM- HISTGR8495_001_2025_1 - BORDERLANDS HISTORY COLLOQUIUM Instructor: Manan Ahmed

This course synthesized everything that I have learned about politics, economics, systems of power, history, and philosophy to date.

We learned how to read ego-documents of Mughal emperors, understanding them in the context of a broader tradition and how they offered a window into Mughal kingship. In particular, this class gave a unique perspective on reading primary sources: how to interpret them, the danger of over-interpretation, and the ways in which sources build upon each other.

-The Historical Craft and the Archive -Other historiographies (although briefly)

Ten weekly responses of about 300 words and a map quiz at the beginning of the semester that you can take twice. Readings of varying length each week if you would like to genuinely engage with the material, which you should.

1 Project tracking Babur, 1 Visual Essay Final (25 slides), 1 Movie Review (1 page), 1 Art exhibit review (1 page), weekly discussion posts (300 words).

Slightly more than other Lit Hum sections if word on the street is to be believed. 150-250 pages per class meeting; three 800-1200 word essays first semester; and one longer essay plus some presentations second semester. No quizzes or midterms ever, and final was only worth 10% of grade. There's talk of modifying/cancelling the final this semester (we'll see). Super chill guy. However, it seems unlikely that he'll teach Lit Hum again so this might just be irrelevant.

Should be a mandatory course for history candidates. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2022 Course: HISTGR8495_001_2022_3-BORDERLANDSHISTORYCOLLOQUIUM : HISTGR8495_001_2022_3 - BORDERLANDS HISTORY COLLOQUIUM Instructor: Manan Ahmed

For this iteration of Colonization/Decolonization, we focused on the university as a colonial project, and how disciplines like sociology and anthropology (among others) emerged through colonial interests, including land grants, charters, and other documents.

The craft and methods of being a historian -- thinking through issues related to the process of investigating a historical subject and writing about it.