Department of Asian Studies
Department of Asian Studies

Shanti Kumar

PhD, Indiana University-Bloomington

Associate Professor

Contact

Biography

 

 

Shanti Kumar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film and a faculty affiliate in the Department of Asian Studies, the Center for Asian-American Studies and the South Asia Institute at the University of Texas-Austin. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the South Asia Institute, and has been a member of the Executive Committee at the Center for Asian-American Studies.

Before joining UT in 2006, Prof. Kumar taught at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the University of North Texas in Denton. He received his B.Sc. degree in Math, Physics and Chemistry from Osmania University, Hyderabad in India in 1987. He received a B.A. in Communication and Journalism in 1988, and an M.A. in Communication and Journalism in 1989, also from Osmania University. He received an M.A. in Media Studies from Texas Christian University in 1994, and Ph.D. in Telecommunications from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1998.

Prof. Kumar is the author of Gandhi Meets Primetime: Globalization and Nationalism in Indian Television (University of Illinois Press, 2006). The book examines how cultural imaginations of nationalism have been transformed by the rapid growth of satellite and cable television in India since 1991. Prof. Kumar is the co-editor of Planet TV: A Global Television Reader (New York University Press, 2003). Planet TV provides a critical overview of the rapidly changing landscape of global television by combining previously-published essays by pioneers in global television studies with new work by scholars who refine and extend intellectual debates in this emerging field. Prof. Kumar has published book chapters in several edited anthologies and articles in journals such as BioScope, Jump Cut, Popular Communication, South Asian Journal, South Asian Popular Culture, Television and New Media and Quarterly Review of Film and Video. He has also written columns and short essays for online journals such as Flowtv.org, Antenna and In Media Res. He is currently working on a book about the globalization of regional cinemas in India, focusing particularly on Telugu cinema in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

At UT, Prof. Kumar teaches undergraduate courses such as “Introduction to Global Media,” “Technology and Culture,” “Global Media Cultures,” “Music Television and Global Culture,” “History of Indian Cinema and Television,” and “Bollywood and Global Culture.” Among the graduate seminars he teaches are “Media Theory and Literature,” Global Media and Cultural Studies,” “Media in South Asia” and “Postcolonial Theory and Criticism.”

Prof. Kumar has professional experience in journalism, advertising and multimedia industries in India. He worked as a sub-editor and a reporter for Deccan Chronicle which is the largest-selling English-language newspaper in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. He also worked as a multimedia designer and scriptwriter in the Education and Training Division at CMC Limited; one of the leading information technology firms in India.

Courses Taught:

(RTF) History of Asian Media; Seminar in South Asian Media; Post-Colonial Theory and Criticism

Courses

ANS 390 • Global Media Ind, Cultures-Wb

32799 • Spring 2021
Meets F 9:00AM-12:00PM
Internet; Synchronous
show description

Study of various Asian studies-related topics that do not focus on any single geographic region.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

ANS 372 • Indian Cinema

32364 • Fall 2018
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM CMA 3.124
(also listed as RTF 342S)
show description

This course will provide a general overview of Indian cinema. We will critically examine some of the main genres and themes represented in a variety of commercial Hindi films -- popularly known as "Bollywood". We will analyze how Bollywood films represent issues of gender, class, caste, race, national identity, transnational mobility, and cultural traditions in India and in the Indian diaspora. We will also examine the ways in which the "Bollywood" film industry has evolved in relation to the political, economic, and cultural changes taking place at the global, national and regional levels of Indian society. Background in Hindi language or Indian cinema is not necessary to take this course. All films screened in this course will have English subtitles.

LAS 322 • Global Tv: Issues And Problems

40815 • Spring 2014
Meets MWF 10:00AM-11:00AM CMA 3.124
C2
show description

Please check back for updates.

LAS 322 • Global Media

40325 • Spring 2013
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM CMA A3.124
C2
show description

Please check back for updates.

ANS 372 • Global Tv: Issues And Probs-W

31757 • Spring 2012
Meets MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM CMA A3.116
C2 (also listed as LAS 322, RTF 342)
show description

The globalization of national television industries and cultures, along with the digital convergence of broadcasting, cable, satellites, cell phones and the internet, has dramatically transformed media landscapes around the world in recent decades.  In this course, we will critically evaluate the new programming and scheduling strategies that global networks (such as CNN, BBC, MTV, TV Globo, and STAR TV) are using to migrate seamlessly from television to a digitally-convergent platform of   TV+ cinema+ internet+ cellphones+ gaming.   We will also examine how television audiences in different parts of the world are negotiating the changing relationship between “public” and “private” spaces in this new multi-platform landscape of digital media that industry experts describe as a “360 degrees experience” of information and entertainment. The course will begin with an introduction to key concepts in global television studies, and consider how commercial and state-run systems of broadcasting have historically dealt with the distinctions of public and private spaces in media culture. The course will then focus on specific case studies from different parts of the world to show how the multi-platform strategy of “360 degrees experience” is being used by various media networks across a range of genres such as news, sports, music, and reality television.  Finally, the course will consider the new forms of audience interactions and participatory cultures emerging at the intersection of television and other media technologies such as the cinema, internet, cellphones and gaming.

ANS 390 • Global Media And Cultural Stds

30650 • Spring 2009
Meets TH 2:00PM-5:00PM UTC 1.136
show description

Study of various Asian studies-related topics that do not focus on any single geographic region.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

ANS 372 • Global Media Cultures-W

31335 • Fall 2008
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM CMA A3.124
C2
show description

Please check back for updates.

ANS 384 • Postcolonial Thry & Criticism

31285 • Spring 2008
Meets TH 2:00PM-5:00PM NOA 1.110
show description

Study of various aspects and periods of South Asian culture and society.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

ANS 390 • Global Media And Cultural Stds

30706 • Spring 2007
Meets F 1:00PM-4:00PM CMA A3.108
show description

Study of various Asian studies-related topics that do not focus on any single geographic region.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

ANS 384 • Seminar In South Asian Media

31325 • Fall 2006
Meets W 6:00PM-9:00PM CMA A3.128
show description

Study of various aspects and periods of South Asian culture and society.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

ANS 372 • History Of Indian Cinema

29712 • Spring 2006
Meets W 4:00PM-7:00PM WEL 3.402
show description

Please check back for updates.

Publications

Publications

  • Gandhi Meets Primetime: Globalization and Nationalism in Indian Television. (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2006).
  • Co-editor, Planet TV: A Global Television Reader (New York: New York University Press, 2003).

Profile Pages

External Links

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  • Department of Asian Studies

    University of Texas at Austin
    120 Inner Campus Dr Stop G9300
    WCH 4.134
    Austin, Texas 78712-1251
    512-471-5811

The College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
116 Inner Campus Dr Stop G6000
Austin, TX 78712

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