LANGUAGE PROGRAMS

Language Study | Language Lectors & FLTAs | Conference for the Translation of the Rāmāyaṇa of Kampaṉ | The South Asia Language Pedagogy Conference

Language Study

The South Asia Council houses a growing program in South Asian languages for undergraduate and graduate students. Currently, we offer instruction in three languages – Hindi, Tamil, and Sanskrit. Students can satisfy their Language requirements at Yale by taking any of these languages.

If there are South Asian languages you want to learn, but don’t see offered at Yale, contact us! We can help you find a teacher through the Center for Language Studies, or a summer program where your needs will be met. We also maintain a database of intensive Summer Language programs for South Asian Languages in South Asia and the US.

We can offer some support for summer language programs. Please contact us for more information.

contact:
Harry Blair
South Asian Languages Program
203-432-3399

Language Lectors & FLTAs

BENGALI - Sreemati Mukherjee: MA, Jadavpur University. Sreemati Mukherjee is a Senior Lecturer in Bengali Language at Cornell University. She will be teaching Introductory and Intermediate Bengali at Yale through a videoconferencing initiative. She received her M.A. in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University, BA in English Honors and B.Ed. from Loreto College, Calcutta University. She is a member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and of South Asian Languages Teachers Association (SALTA). She has a double certificate from ACTFL as oral proficiency tester in Bengali for both ACTFL and the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR).

SANSKRIT | David Brick: PhD. Asian Cultures and Languages at University of Texas at Austin, 2009. His dissertation comprises a critical edition and translation of the Danakanda, a twelfth-century work by Laksmidhara, which constitutes the fifth section of his encyclopedic Krtyakalpataru. David Brick will offer an L5 course on Law and Religion in Ancient India.

HINDI | Swapna Sharma: PhD. University of Agra 1991. Her PhD dissertation is on Gadadhar Bhatt: Tradition and Literary work (Parampara aur Sahitya). Her dissertation does an analysis of the literary writings of Gadadhar Bhatt, a leading figure in Caitanyaite Vaisnavism of the resurgence of Krishna bhakti in the 16th century in Vrindaban, India. Swapna Sharma will offer an L5 course on Medieval Bhakti Literature.

HINDI | Seema Khurana: MA. Indira Gandhi National Open University. Seema Khurana is a Senior Hindi Lector at Yale University since 2001. She is constantly developing materials for teaching Hindi as well as introducing new courses to meet the demands of the students. Khurana started 'Sandeshi', a project of nostalgia and passion, giving voice to Hindi literature and bringing it to life. Seema has published and presented her short stories, poems and play in India and America.

Hindi ⃒ Charu Agarwal (FLTA)

Conference for the Translation of the Rāmāyaṇa of Kampaṉ

In 2010, the Murty Classical Library of India commissioned a groundbreaking of one of South Asia’s most enduring classics, the Tamil Rāmāyaṇa of Kampaṉ. Headed by Blake Wentworth of Yale University, and drawing on an international team of Tamil scholars, the Kamparāmāyaṇa translation stands as the boldest South Asian translation initiative in decades. The series of seven volumes, presented with facing-page original text, introductory monographs, and extensive critical apparatus, will be published in both the United States and India in 2013, giving the English-speaking world the first full translation of one of the world’s literary masterpieces. Yale’s South Asian Studies Council has been proud to support this venture from its inception, and will be hosting a working conference for the Rāmāyaṇa translation team at the University in Fall 2011. Convened together as the series nears the publication date for its initial volumes, the conference will provide a crucial occasion for the translation team to further mutual collaboration on the individual volumes of the Rāmāyaṇa, share research on the nature and making of this great text, and prepare for publication. The conference offers an opportunity for scholars to meet at an established center of Tamil learning, and benefit from Yale’s commitment to serve as a nexus for the advancement of South Asian studies around the world.

The South Asia Language Pedagogy Conference

The 2012 Yale South Asia Language Pedagogy Conference, hosted by the Council on
South Asian Studies, looks forward to expanding its annual tradition by drawing from
universities nationwide to host a conference of presentations, workshops, and scholarly
exchange. Drawing accomplished teachers from a wide range of South Asian languages, this annual event seeks to explore successful models of South Asian language instruction in a liberal arts education. An effective South Asian language pedagogy demands a wide-ranging regard for aligned scholarly fields right from the introductory level: literature, history, religion, anthropology, and more. As a result, teachers of these languages must bridge a host of disciplines if students are to gain an authentic view of how a language is used and understood by its own speakers.  As one of the foremost national opportunities for scholars of South Asia to share the benefits of their own practical experience developing such an integrated curriculum, the Yale South Asia Language Pedagogy Conference has become increasingly prominent on the national stage. Past participants have published work introduced at the conference in the journal South Asia Language Pedagogy and Technology, and participation in the event has grown with each year. Scholars interested in presenting at the 2012 conference, to be held in late April, may contact the South Asia Language Program Director, Blake Wentworth, to submit a proposal.