We will explore representations of place and environment across a range of time periods, genres, and perspectives in Hindi and Urdu literature. Our sources will include short stories, poems, essays, and excerpts from novels, travelogues, and diaries. Questions and themes such as human-animal connections; urbanization, industrialization, and ecological degradation; and intersections of culture, timescale, affect and place, will be among some of the prevailing issues addressed. Students will engage in close critical reflection on issues and perspectives.