π» Cornell Asian Studies unofficial reading list 2026
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Freshman level
Songs of Love & War: South Asian Lyrics ASIAN 1104 (fa26)
- They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Graff & Birkenstein
- Poems of Love & War: From the Eight Anthologies & the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil by A. K. Ramanujan
The Great Epic of India ASIAN 1106 (fa26)
- The Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata
- The Mahabharata, v.1: The Book of the Beginning
- The Mahabharata, v.2: The Book of Assembly & the Book of the Forest
- The Mahabharata, v.3: The Book of the Virata & the Book of the Effort
Sophomore level
Gamelan in Indonesian History & Cultures ASIAN 2245 (fa26)
- Music in Central Java: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture by Benjamin Brinner
South Asian Religions in Practice: The Healing Traditions ASIAN 2254 (fa26)
- The Indian Way: An Introduction to the Philosophies & Religions of India by John M Koller
- Shamans, Mystics & Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India & its Healing Traditions by Sudhir Kakar
- Medusaβs Hair: An Essay on Personal Symbols & Religious Experience by Gananath Obeyesekere
- Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India by Diana Eck
- Given to the Goddess by Lucinda Ramberg
- In Ammaβs Healing Room: Gender & Vernacular Islam in South India by Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger
- Gabriel of Madness: Islamic Poetry & Ethics in an Age of Hindu Nationalism by Anand Vivek Taneja
- Mudpacks & Prozac: Experiencing Ayurvedic, Biomedical & Religious Healing by Murphy Halliburton
Medicine & Healing in China ASIAN 2262 (fa26)
- Chinese Medicine & Healing by Hinrichs & Barnes
- Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts by Donald Harper
Mughal India & the Early Modern World, c. 1500-1800 ASIAN 2274 (fa26)
- A Short History of the Mughal Empire by Michael H. Fisher
- The Empires of the Near East & India: Source Studies of the Safavid, Ottoman & Mughal Literate Communities by Hani Khafipour
- The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince & Emperor
Buddhism ASIAN 2299 (fa26)
- The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism by Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
- The Foundations of Buddhism by Rupert Gethin
Junior level
Partition: Violence, Citizenship & the Making of Modern South Asia ASIAN 3023 (fa26)
- The Partition of India by Haimanti Roy
- From Raj to Republic: Sovereignty, Violence & Democracy in India by Sunil Purushotham
- Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir by Malik Sajad
History, Theory & Methods in the Academic Study of Religion ASIAN 3049/6049 (fa26)
- Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology by Mary Douglas
- Fetishizing Tradition: Desire & Reinvention in Buddhist & Christian Narratives by Alan Cole
- Revelatory Events: 3 Case Studies of the Emergence of New Spiritual Paths by Ann Taves
- How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others by T.M. Luhrmann
Monsoon Kingdoms: Pre-Modern Southeast Asian History ASIAN 3397/6697 (fa26)
- A History of Early Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade & Societal Development, 100β1500 by Kenneth R. Hall
- Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680: v.2, Expansion & Crisis by Anthony Reid