Sanjay K. Gautam

Professor Gautam is an intellectual and cultural historian of South Asia, with a focus on India.

Professor Gautam teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on global and transnational history and on the history of South Asia. Some of the courses he teaches include: “From Attila the Hun to Genghis Khan: Nomadic Wars and Warriors in Eurasian History”, “The British Empire and the Great Game: Spies, Secret Agents, and the Anglo-Russian Rivalry”, “History of Maritime Asia”, “A Global History of Yoga”, and "From Buddha to Gandhi: A History of Indian Nonviolence."

Professor Gautam received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is an intellectual, cultural, military, and political historian with wide-ranging research interests in the history of India and Asia, and more broadly global history. His first book Foucault and the Kamasutra: The Courtesan, the Dandy, and the Birth of Ars Erotica as Theater in India (University of Chicago Press, 2016) is an exploration of two founding texts of Indian culture, the Kamasutra and the Natyasastra, in engagement with Michel Foucault’s works on the history of sexuality. In addition to his book, Professor Gautam has published articles in leading journals such as the Journal of the History of Sexuality.

Professor Gautam is currently working on two book projects. The first explores the nature and history of American engagement with Afghanistan and Pakistan in the light of the British Empire’s history in that region. The second book explores the life and work of Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, one of the most important literary figures of postcolonial India. 

Professor Gautam has received both prestigious external fellowships such as the Smith Richardson Foundation Fellowship and internal research fellowships such as the Kayden Research award, the Arts and Sciences Fund for Excellence, and the LEAP award.

  Professor Gautam is accepting M.A. students.