Gender remains one of the preeminent ways in which all human societies are structured. Its imprint on urban spaces may be recognized throughout India's long history, from the Harappan Civilization to the present day. Our cities have recorded the existence of people of a variety of gendered and sexualized identities and behaviors. These include and go beyond the categories that we now understand as male, female or transgender, as well as the spectrum of sexualized distinctions which are common to the modern world, i.e., gay or lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, etc. 

In this course, the historical traces of gender and sexuality upon the urban landscape as they intersected with other forms of belonging were studied. How were spaces gendered in our urban past? What counted as male or female, or that which was considered in-between? What kinds of spaces did women and queer people inhabit? How did gender interact with other distinctions of age, caste, race, ritual, class and slavery? What legacies from this history survive today? These questions were answered through reading various old and new scripts and books. 

This course took us on a journey through barracks and harems, brothels, bazaars and sacred sites across Mumbai, Maharashtra, where people of a range of gendered backgrounds lived and flourished. We read from the writings of early Buddhist nuns, the Arthashastra, the Kamasutra, as well as love poetry from the Sufi and Bhakti traditions. We also appreciated different forms of the built environment in urban landscapes where gendered exchanges occurred.