This lecture course examines the career of Satyajit Ray, film director of the famed Apu Trilogy (1955-59) and recipient of a "Lifetime Achievement" Oscar. Celebrated as a modernist master, Ray was a towering postcolonial auteur who explored the challenges faced by modern Indian society. Still the best-selling author of young adult fiction in Bengali, his creativity also spanned music, the fine arts, and commercial graphic design. The course critically situates Ray's entire oeuvre in relation to the cultural milieus of mid-century Bengal, India, and the world.