Vinay Lal
Professor
He studied literature, history, and philosophy as an undergraduate, and earned his B.A. from the Humanities Center at Johns Hopkins University in 1982. He received a M.A. from the same institution, also in 1982, for a thesis on Emerson and Indian Philosophy. He then studied film in Australia and India on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship before commencing his graduate studies at the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, where he was awarded his Ph.D. with Distinction in 1992. His dissertation, "Committees of Inquiry and Discourses of 'Law and Order' in Twentieth-Century British India", received the Marc Galler Award for the best dissertation in the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago. He was a William R. Kenan Fellow, Society of Fellows in the Humanities, at Columbia University in 1992-93.
Vinay joined the history faculty at UCLA in Fall 1993, and has since held several fellowships, including a Senior Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers, and a fellowship from the Society for the Promotion of Science/Japan Area Studies Center at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. He was elected a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science in February 2000.
Vinay teaches a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses in Indian history, comparative colonial histories, subaltern history and Indian historiography, as well as graduate level seminars on the contemporary politics of knowledge; postcolonial theory; the politics of culture; gencoide, slavery, and the Holocaust. He has designed and taught a cycle of upper-division undergraduate lecture courses on British India, Contemporary South Asia, the Indian Diaspora, and the Moral and Political Thought of Mohandas Gandhi. Seminars in Indian history cover such subjects as the Politics of Religion and Ethnicity in South Asia; Hindu-Muslim Encounters in South Asia; "The Woman Question" in Colonial India; The Life of Krishna in Indian Art, History, and Culture; History and the Novel; the Partition of India; Violence in Contemporary Indian Society; and History and Popular Cinema. He also teaches in alternate years the lower-division course in contemporary world history. His lecture courses in Indian history are now available in their entirety on his aacdemic youTube channel, a link to which can be found below.
Vinay has written regularly on a wide variety of subjects for over two hundred fifty scholarly journals, periodicals, and newspapers in the US, India, and Britain. Among other subjects, he has written on various aspects of the political and legal history of colonial India, sexuality in modern India, the popular Hindi film, the Indian diaspora, Indian documentaries, the politics and history of history, dissent in the Gandhian mode, contemporary American politics, the politics of culture, genocide, the global politics of knowledge systems, and political theory including classical liberalism and the thought of John Stuart Mill. His twenty authored and edited books reflect a similarly broad range of intellectual, political and research interests. He has been a frequent contributor to The Indian Express and the Economic and Political Weekly (Mumbai) and more recently writes for OPEN Magazine. He also has a column with India's largest media network, ABP, which can be accessed at abplive.in
Vinay was formally associated as a Visiting Fellow in the summers of 1993 and 1994 with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and the Delhi-based Committee for Cultural Choices and Global Futures. He was then associated, since its inception, with Multiversity, a group of scholars, intellectuals and activists that met every other year in Penang, Malaysia until 2012, with the objective of engaging in a radical decolonization of the knowledge systems of the Western academy. He is also a founding member of the Backwaters Collective on Metaphysics and Politics (2010-present), which meets annually in Kerala. He shares the sentiments of the scholars, public intellectuals, and activists who are engaged in all these enterprises, which may be described as motivated by "an intellectual concern for the ecology of plural knowledge, a normative concern with cultural survival, and a potential concern with the search for humane futures for the victims of history." Vinay served as University of California's Director of the Education Abroad Program in India for 18 months, and while on leave from UCLA in 2010-11 he served as Professor of History at the University of Delhi. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Delhi.
His most recent books include Insurgency and the Artist: The Art of the Freedom Struggle in India (New Delhi, December 2022); the two-volume Oxford Anthology of the Modern Indian City (2013), and two edited volumes--India and the Unthinkable, and India and Civilizational Futures--from the Backwaters Collective on Metaphysics and Politics, both from Oxford University Press, Delhi (2016 and 2019, respectively). The Fury of Covid-19: The Passions, Histories, and Unrequited Love of the Coronavirus, was published in October 2020 by Pan Macmillan (India) in digital and paperback editions. Earlier books include Empire of Knowledge: Culture and Plurality in the Global Economy (Pluto Press, 2002; 2nd rev. ed., New Delhi: Sage Publishers, 2005); The History of History: Politics and Scholarhip in Modern India (Oxford UP, 2003; 2nd enlg. ed., 2005); and Of Cricket, Guinness, and Gandhi: Essays on Indian History and Culture (Seagull Books, 2003; paperback ed., Delhi: Penguin Books, 2005).
Vinay maintains an extensive academic YouTube channel with over 30,500 subscribers and 2.35 milion views (as of January 2022), featuring entire courses in the history, politics, and culture of South Asia, as well as lectures on Gandhi, contemporary world history, and other subjects. New playlists are added frequently, most recently on "Books That Matter" and on Auschwitz/The Holocaust. The site can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/user/dillichalo
He also has a blog, LAL SALAAM: Writings on the Politics of Culture and the Culture of Politics: https://vinaylal.wordpress.com/
Blog essays, some distinct to the blog and others first published elsewhere, and other shorter pieces such as op-ed pieces for newspapers, have been translated into over 30 languages.
He has also maintained a pedagogic website, for use by students and teachers, since 2000 called MANAS and now hosted at http://southasia.ucla.edu/. However, this site was last updated around 2015.
Some of his blog essays for ABP can be found here: https://news.abplive.com/authors/Vinay-Lal
He also has a page at https://muckrack.com/vinay-lal
Degrees
Ph.D. with Distinction, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 1992
M.A., The Humanities Center, Johns Hopkins University, 1982 (degree conferred 1983)
B.A. The Humanities Center (with concentration in literature, history, and philosophy), Johns Hopkins University, 1982
Selected Publications
BOOKS ONLY
Authored Books:
Insurgency and the Artist: The Art of the Freedom Struggle in India. Delhi: Roli Books, 2022.
The Fury of Covid-19: The Passions, Histories, and Unrequited Love of the Corona Virus. Delhi: Pan Macmillan, October 2020.
Deewaar: The Footpath, the City, and the Angry Young Man. Delhi: HarperCollins, 2011.
The Other Indians: Politics and Culture of South Asians in America. Los Angeles: Asian American Studies Center Press, University of California (UCLA), 2007; Delhi: HarperCollins, 2008.
Introducing Hinduism (illustrated by Borin van Loon). London: Icon Books, 2005; Spanish translation published as Hinduismo Para Todos (Barcelona, 2006); Korean translation published in 2006; Finnish translation published in 2007.
Of Cricket, Guinness and Gandhi: Essays on Indian History and Culture. Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2003; paperback, Delhi: Viking Penguin, 2005.
The History of History: Politics and Scholarship in Modern India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003; paperback edition with new postscript, Oxford 2005; 2nd reprint, 2007; 5th impression, 2010.
Empire of Knowledge: Culture and Plurality in the Global Economy. London: Pluto Press, 2002; Indian edition with new material: Delhi: Sage Publications/Vistaar, 2005; Urdu translation, Ilm ki Sultanat, Mashal Books, Lahore, 2008.
South Asian Cultural Studies: A Bibliography. Delhi: Manohar, 1996.
Edited Books:
The Colonial State and Forms of Knowledge: The British in India. Delhi: Primus Books, 2022.
India and Civilizational Futures: The Backwaters Collective on Metaphysics and Politics II. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2019.
A Passionate Life: Writings By and On Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. Co-edited with Ellen C. DuBois. Delhi: Zubaan Books, 2017.
India and the Unthinkable: The Backwaters Collective on Metaphysics and Politics. Co-edited with Roby Rajan. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2016.
The Oxford Anthology of the Modern Indian City: The City in Its Plenitude. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013.
The Oxford Anthology of the Modern Indian City: Making and Unmaking the City: Culture, Politics, and Life Forms. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Political Hinduism: The Religious Imagination in Public Spheres. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Fingerprinting Popular Culture: The Mythic and the Iconic in Indian Cinema, co-edited with Ashis Nandy. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006; Oxford India Paperback, 2007).
The Future of Knowledge and Culture: A Dictionary for the Twenty-first Century, co-edited with Ashis Nandy, Delhi: Viking Penguin, 2005; Kannada translation, 2007.
(Edited) Dissenting Knowledges, Open Futures: The Multiple Selves and Strange Destinations of Ashis Nandy. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000; 2nd ed. with additional preface, Oxford University Press, 2013.
The History of Railway Thieves [1914], by M. Pauparao Naidu. Edited with introduction by V. Lal. Gurgaon, India: Vintage Press, 1995.
Founding Editor, Dissenting Knowledges Pamphlet Series, Multiversity/Citizens International, Penang, Malaysia (2004-present). 15 pamphlets have been published so far;
Graduate Students
Mitch Numark (Ph.D., 2005; as of 2021, Assoc. Prof. of History, CSU-Sacramento).
Ritika Prasad (Ph.D, 2009; as of 2021, Assoc. Prof. of History, UNC-Charlotte).
Anindita Nag (Ph.D., 2010; as of 2021, Assoc. Prof., O. P. Jindal University, Sonepat, India).
Nivedita Nath (Ph.D, 2022; UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-24, at UC Irvine)
Vipin Krishna (advanced to candidacy, September 2019)
Rebecca Waxman (advanced to candidacy, January 2023)
Shantanu Havaldar
Aadarsh Chunkath
Pranav Gulukota
Collaborators
Vinay Lal has worked extensively with Ashis Nandy over the last two decades or more and three books have emerged from this collaboration. The first, Open Knowledges, Dissenting Futures: The Multiple Selves and Strange Destinations of Ashis Nandy (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000; 2nd paperback ed. with new preface and material, 2013), includes a 80-page conversation between Lal and Nandy, as well as shorter pieces by Nandy and critical assessment of his work by several leading scholars. In 2005, Professor Nandy and Lal published two co-edited books: The Future of Knowledge and Culture: A Dictionary for the 21st Century (New Delhi: Viking/Penguin Global, 2005) and Fingerprinting Popular Culture: The Mythic and the Iconic in Indian Cinema (Oxford UP).
Previous Courses by Term
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
Topics in Historiography: India
Contemporary World History, 1760 to Present
Topics in History: World
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Special Topics in Contemporary Indian History
Capstone Seminar: History--India
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Advanced Historiography: Theory of History
Indian Identity in U.S. and Diaspora
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Contemporary World History, 1760 to Present
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
History of British India I
Capstone Seminar: History -- India
Topics in History: India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Gandhi and Making of Modern India
Seminar: South Asia
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Seminar: South Asia
Contemporary World History, 1760 to Present
Capstone Seminar: History -- Historical Theory
Topics in History: Theory of History
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
Capstone Seminar: History -- India
Topics in History: India
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Capstone Seminar: History -- India
Topics in History: India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Introduction to Historical Practice: Variable Topics in Indian History
History of British India I
Indian Identity in U.S. and Diaspora
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Topics in History: India
Topics in History: Theory of History
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
Capstone Seminar: History -- India
Topics in History: India
Special Topics in Contemporary Indian History
Capstone Seminar: History -- India
Topics in History: India
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Capstone Seminar: History -- India
Topics in History: India
History of British India II
Seminar: South Asia
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Seminar: South Asia
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
Undergraduate Variable Topics Research Seminars: History -- India
Topics in History: India
Special Topics in Contemporary Indian History
Indian Identity in the U.S. and Diaspora
Undergraduate Variable Topics Seminars: India
Topics in History: India
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Undergraduate Variable Topics Seminars: World History
Topics in History: Theory of History
History of British India II
Undergraduate Variable Topics Seminars: India
Topics in History: India
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Undergraduate Variable Topics Seminars: India
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
Seminar: South Asia
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Seminar: South Asia
History of British India II
Undergraduate Seminar: India
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Undergraduate Seminar: India
Topics in History: India
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
Undergraduate Seminar: India
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Undergraduate Seminar: India
Topics in History: India
Fiat Lux Seminar
Undergraduate Seminar
Indian Identity in the U.S. and the Diaspora
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Undergraduate Seminar
Perspectives on September 11
Special Topics in Contemporary Indian History
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Undergraduate Seminar
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
Undergraduate Seminar
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
Topics in History: India
Indian Identity in the U.S. and the Diaspora
Undergraduate Seminar
History of British India II
Previous Courses by Course
Topics in Historiography: India
2019 Spring Quarter
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
2019 Spring Quarter
2014 Fall Quarter
2012 Fall Quarter
2009 Spring Quarter
2005 Spring Quarter
Topics in Historiography: India
2019 Spring Quarter
Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
2018 Spring Quarter
2017 Fall Quarter
2017 Spring Quarter
2017 Winter Quarter
2016 Spring Quarter
2016 Winter Quarter
2014 Fall Quarter
2013 Fall Quarter
2013 Spring Quarter
2012 Winter Quarter
2009 Fall Quarter
2009 Spring Quarter
2007 Winter Quarter
2006 Winter Quarter
2005 Winter Quarter
2004 Winter Quarter
Contemporary World History, 1760 to Present
Topics in History: World
2019 Winter Quarter
Topics in History: World
2019 Winter Quarter
Capstone Seminar: History--India
2018 Spring Quarter
Special Topics in Contemporary Indian History
Introduction to Asian Civilizations: History of India
2017 Fall Quarter
2016 Winter Quarter
2014 Spring Quarter
2012 Winter Quarter
2009 Fall Quarter
2007 Winter Quarter
2006 Winter Quarter
2005 Winter Quarter
2004 Winter Quarter
2003 Winter Quarter
2001 Fall Quarter
2000 Fall Quarter
1999 Fall Quarter
Advanced Historiography: Theory of History
2017 Fall Quarter
Indian Identity in U.S. and Diaspora
2017 Spring Quarter
Indian Identity in U.S. and Diaspora
2017 Spring Quarter
2013 Spring Quarter
Capstone Seminar: History -- India
2017 Winter Quarter
2014 Fall Quarter
2014 Spring Quarter
2012 Fall Quarter
2012 Spring Quarter
2012 Winter Quarter
Topics in History: India
2017 Winter Quarter
2014 Fall Quarter
2014 Spring Quarter
2013 Spring Quarter
2012 Fall Quarter
2012 Spring Quarter
2012 Winter Quarter
2009 Spring Quarter
2007 Spring Quarter
2006 Spring Quarter
2004 Winter Quarter
2003 Winter Quarter
1999 Fall Quarter
History of British India I
2017 Winter Quarter
2013 Fall Quarter
Gandhi and Making of Modern India
2016 Spring Quarter
Seminar: South Asia
Seminar: South Asia
Topics in History: Theory of History
Capstone Seminar: History -- Historical Theory
2015 Spring Quarter
Introduction to Historical Practice: Variable Topics in Indian History
2013 Fall Quarter
Indian Identity in U.S. and Diaspora
2013 Spring Quarter
History of British India II
2010 Winter Quarter
2006 Spring Quarter
Undergraduate Variable Topics Research Seminars: History -- India
2009 Spring Quarter
Undergraduate Variable Topics Seminars: India
Indian Identity in the U.S. and Diaspora
2007 Spring Quarter
Indian Identity in the U.S. and Diaspora
2007 Spring Quarter
Undergraduate Variable Topics Seminars: World History
2007 Winter Quarter
History of British India II
2004 Spring Quarter
1998 Fall Quarter
Undergraduate Seminar: India
2004 Spring Quarter
2004 Winter Quarter
2003 Spring Quarter
2003 Winter Quarter
Cultural and Political History of Contemporary South Asia
2003 Spring Quarter
2000 Spring Quarter
Fiat Lux Seminar
2003 Winter Quarter
Undergraduate Seminar
Indian Identity in the U.S. and the Diaspora
2002 Winter Quarter
1999 Winter Quarter
Indian Identity in the U.S. and the Diaspora
2002 Winter Quarter
1999 Winter Quarter
Perspectives on September 11
2001 Fall Quarter
Undergraduate Seminar
2001 Fall Quarter
Special Topics in Contemporary Indian History
2001 Winter Quarter
Undergraduate Seminar