South Asia

United States of America

Visiting Scholar

University of Virginia

rjc8s@virginia.edu

Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures Department
University of Virginia
109 Harris Road
Charlottesvilla, VA 22903 USA

phone: 434-295-6410

http://www.virginia.edu/mesa/faculty_south_cohen.html

My intellectual interests lie primarily in the medieval, transitional
languages and literatures of north India, such as Apabhramsa, early
Hindavi and Awadhi. Through such literatures one can trace the cultural
continuities within South Asian civilization as it undergoes changes in
response to the arrival of Islamicate cultures. I have developed an
interest and specialization in Jainism through my work in Prakrit and
Apabhramsa, and in early South Asian Sufism through a study of its
literature, and developing material for syllabi on the role of Islam in
South Asian civilization. I am keenly interested in the development of
Indian cinema, particularly in the post Independence period how it
manifests political and cultural change.

None on file.

medieval literature ; medieval languages ; Hindavi ; Awadhi ; Islamic cultures ; Sufism ; ...