William R. Pinch (Vijay)
Department of History, Wesleyan University
238 Church Street, Middletown, CT 06459-0002
phone: (860) 685-2399
fax: (860) 685-2781
email: wpinch@wesleyan.edu
Degrees:
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Ph.D. 1990, University of Virginia [Dissertation: “Being Vaishnava,
Becoming Kshatriya: Culture, Belief, and Identity in Northern India,
1800-1950,” directed by Walter Hauser]
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M.A. 1986 and B.A. 1982, University of Virginia
Positions:
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1991- Assistant Professor of History, Wesleyan University
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1990-1991 Assistant Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia
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Spring 1990 Adjunct Lecturer, History, College of William and Mary
Current Project:
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The Ascetic Armed: Military Sadhus, Colonial Rule, and the
Indian Nation [a social, cultural, and political history of Saiva and Vaishnava
military asceticism.]
Publications:
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Peasants and Monks in British India (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1996)
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“Reinventing Ramanand: Caste and History in Gangetic India,” Modern
Asian Studies 30, 3 (1996): 549-572
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“Soldier Monks and Militant Sadhus,” in David Ludden (ed.), Contesting
the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in
India (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1996), 140-162; also
published by Oxford University Press, Delhi, as Making India Hindu:
Community, Conflict, and the Politics of Democracy
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“Historicity, Hagiography, and Hierarchy in North India,” in William Radice
(ed.), Swami Vivekananda and the Modernisation of Hinduism (Delhi:
Oxford University Press, forthcoming 1997)
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“Poppy and the Peasant: A Look at the Structure of Agrarian Society
in Nineteenth-Century Bihar,” Explorations [India] 1, 2 (July 1987):
25-35
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“Opium and the Peasant in North India,” Essays in History 30 (1987):
37-59
Invited Talks and Conference Papers:
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“Subaltern
Sadhus? Political Ascetics in Indian Myth, Memory, and History,"Walter
Hauser Festschrift, University of Virginia, 24-25 May 1997; presented as
“Subaltern Sadhus? Towards a Military Genealogy of North Indian Asceticism”
at Tufts University (Rethinking South Asian History conference), 9-10 May
1997; and as “Powerful Ascetics: Devotion, Discipline, and Armed
Sadhus” at Cambridge University (The New Military History of South Asia
conference), 15-17 July 1997
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"Nabhadas and the Bhaktamala: Monasticism, Devotion, and Historical
Consciousness, ca. 1600-1910,” The Place of the Past: Uses of History in
South Asia Workshop, School of Oriental and African Studies, University
of London, 16-18 April 1997
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“Peasants, Monks, and Indian History,” Cornell University South Asia Lecture,
31 March 1997
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“Who Was Himmat Bahadur? Mercenaries and Sadhus in Bundelkhand,
ca. 1800,” Association for Asian Studies national meeting, 12 April 1996,
Honolulu
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“Soldier Ascetics in Northern India,” Center for South Asian Studies Seminar,
Edinburgh University, 9 May 1995
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“Soldier Monks and Militant Sadhus,” South Asia Lecture, South Asia
Regional Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 2 March 1994
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“Hagiography and Historicity in North India,” Modernisation of Hinduism
Conference, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,
26-27 November 1993
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“Subaltern Sadhus? (reflections on gosains, bairagis,
and shudras),” Work in Progress Seminar, South Asia Regional Studies,
University of Pennsylvania, 31 March 1993
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“Swami Dharnidharacharya and Kshatriya Political Identity in Gangetic
India, 1891-1930,” Association for Asian Studies, Washington, D.C., 5 April
1992
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“Partisan Pasts in Ayodhya, 1918-1921: Remembering Ramananda and
Ramanuja,” Myth, Memory, and History Symposium, Center for South Asian
Studies, University of Virginia, 7 March 1992
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“Ramanandis, Vaishnava Ideas, and Caste Identity Movements
in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Gangetic North India,” Center for
South Asia Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, 10 February
1990; and South Asia Colloquium, North Carolina State University, 2 March
1990
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“Sadhus and Social Change: Ascetic Settlement Patterns and
Agrarian Caste Power in Gangetic South Bihar, 1909-1916,” Mid-Atlantic
States Association for Asian Studies, Washington, D.C., 22 October 1989.
Reviews:
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Manuscript Review for Westview Press
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Dane Kennedy, The Magic Mountains: Hill Stations and the British
Raj (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), Journal of
Asian History (forthcoming 1997)
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"The Bandit Queen" (directed by Shekhar Kapur, 1994), American Historical
Review 101, 4 (October 1996): 1149-1150
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Carl W. Ernst, Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics
at a South Asian Sufi Center (Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1992), International Journal of Middle East Studies (May
1994): 350-352
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With Manu Goswami, review of a conference on “Public Policy and Social
Change in Contemporary India,” University of Virginia Center for South
Asian Studies Newsletter 4, 2 (Spring 1991): 1-2,10
External Grants:
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1996-97 American Council of Learned Societies/Social Science Research Council
Advanced Area Research Award (two summers research in London)
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1994-95 Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Training Grant, U.S. Department
of Education
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1994-95 American Institute of Indian Studies, Senior Research Fellowship
(declined)
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1986-87 Social Science Research Council, International Doctoral Dissertation
Research and Write-up Award
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1986-87 Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Grant, U.S.
Department of Education
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1986-87 American Institute of Indian Studies, Junior Research Fellowship
(declined)
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1985 South Asia Regional Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Urdu
Language fellowship (summer)
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1983-89 U.S. Department of Education, National Resource Fellowship (Title
VI/FLAS): Hindi (1983-85, 1988-89) and Persian (1985-86)
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1982-83 American Institute of Indian Studies, Hindi Language fellowship,
New Delhi
Committees and Service:
History Deparment:
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Field Advisor, Africa, Asia, and Latin America; and European Imperialism
and the Third World, 1997
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Honors Thesis Prize Adjudication Committee, 1995-96
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Field Advisor, European Imperialism and the Third World, 1993-94
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Honors Committee, 1992-93, 1993-94
Public Affairs Center:
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Data Lab Committee, 1997-
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Davenport Grants Committee, 1992
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Hewlett Grant sponsor for Professor Romila Thapar, October 1992
University:
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Navaratri Lecture-Symposium, planned for Sept. 1997, co-organizer with
Philip Wagoner
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Less Commonly Taught Languages Faculty Committee, 1997-
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Frosh Advising, 1992-94, 1995-96
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Ethnomusicology Ph.D. Committee, for Zoe Sherinian, 1994-present
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Advisory Committee, 1993-94
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Educational Policy Committee, 1997-
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South and Southeast Asia Faculty Circle, 1993-present
National:
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U. S. Department of Education, Evaluation Panel for Fulbright-Hays Dissertation
and Faculty Research Grants, Washington, D.C., 18-21 December 1995
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New England Association for Asian Studies, Fall 1997 meeting, program committee
Thesis Direction:
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Duncan Goldberg, “Irregular Genesis: A Selective Study of Founders
and Formations of Irregular Soldiery in the British Empire,” Department
of History, 1995-96. Received Honors.
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James Leiken, “The Fury of Bengal: A Psychobiographical Portrait
of Subhas Chandra Bose,” Department of History, 1995-96. Received
Honors.
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Prasanna Rasiah, “Tamil Cultural Scholarship in Sri Lanka,” Department
of History, 1993-94. Received Honors.
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Amit Nigam, “Participatory Development: India’s ‘Operation Flood’ Program,”
College of Social Studies, 1993-94. Recipient of Davenport Grant
for research in India, summer 1993. Received High Honors.
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Geetanjali Chander, “Leprosy in India,” Department of History, 1992-93.
Recipient of Davenport Grant for research in India and London, summer 1992.
Received High Honors, Butler Prize, and nominated for University Honors.
Courses Taught and Developed:
Frosh seminars:
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HIST 105 Slaves, Souls, and Spices
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HIST 109 Colonial India in Fiction and Film
Introductory surveys:
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HIST 257 India and Indology
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HIST 258 Imperial India
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HIST 259 The Indian Nation
Advanced seminars:
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HIST 323 Religion and Politics in India
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HIST 324 Social Change in India
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HIST 327 War and Society in India
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HIST 329 The Indo-Muslim World