Undergraduate Program
Departmental Adviser: Director of Undergraduate Studies (for name and contact details, see the Faculty section).
Administrative Secretary: Alicia Czaplewski, F 212, 702-8373,
aczaplew@uchicago.edu
PROGRAM OF STUDY
The Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations (SALC) offers a major leading to a B.A. in the Humanities Collegiate Division. The social sciences are integrated into our program through the Civilization sequence, and courses in the social sciences and religious studies are usually included in a student's program of study. The student majoring in SALC will gain a broad knowledge of the literature and history of the South Asian subcontinent (i.e. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), and proficiency in at least one South Asian language that is equivalent to two years of study or greater. Students currently may study Bangla (Bengali), Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Pali, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Tibetan, or Urdu. As part of their course of study, students are encouraged to participate in a study abroad program in South Asia, such as the South Asian Civilizations in India sequence (Pune program). The SALC curriculum will develop the student's skills in formulating analyses of various types of texts (i.e., historical, literary, filmic); the student will also engage with social scientific approaches to South Asian cultures. The thorough area knowledge of South Asian arts, culture, history, and politics, and the critical and linguistic skills developed through the SALC degree may prepare a student for any number of careers.
Students in other fields of study may also complete a minor in SALC. Information on the minor follows the description of the major.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Ideally, the student will begin the degree requirements with the two quarter sequence, Introduction to the Civilizations of South Asia (SALC 20100-20200), and demonstrate competence in a South Asian language, through coursework or exam, equivalent to one year of study. SALC 20100-20200 meets the general education requirement in civilization studies, as does SOSC 23004-23005 (South Asian Civilizations in India), which is taught in Pune. The College's language competency requirement may be satisfied by demonstrated competency equivalent to one year of study of a South Asian language offered through SALC.
The major further requires three courses in a language offered through SALC at the second-year level or higher. These courses must be taken at the University of Chicago, and credit may not be granted by examination. Finally, the major requires six additional courses. These courses may be either (1) listed as SALC courses or as one of the SALC languages (e.g. Bangla Bengali, Hindi, etc.), or (2) courses focused on South Asia that originate in other departments (subject to the approval of the SALC adviser; courses must have at least 50% South Asia content). Three of these six courses may be language courses, either further courses in the same language or courses in another South Asian language. Students should choose courses in consultation with the SALC Adviser, and must indicate their intent to major in SALC with a form obtained from the SALC Adviser.
Summary of Requirements
0-2 SALC 20100-20200/ SOSC 23004-23005 (1)
3 courses in a second-year (or higher) South Asian language (2)
6 courses related to South Asia (3)
9-11
(1) Two courses if the sequence has not taken to meet the general education requirement in civilization studies; zero courses if it has been taken to meet the general education requirement in civilization studies. (2) Credit may not be granted by examination. Courses must be taken at the University of Chicago. (3) Three of which may be further courses in the same language, or courses in another South Asian language.Sample Programs. The following groups of courses would comprise a major.
SALC Sample Majors
- I.
- ANTH 25500 Cultural Politics of Contemporary India
- SALC 20100-20200. Introduction to the Civilizations of South Asia
- SALC 20800. Music of South Asia
- SALC 28700. State in India
- TBTN 20100-20200-20300. Second-Year Tibetan
- URDU 10100-10200-10300. First-Year Urdu
II. ANTH 21401. Practice of Anthropology (1) BANG 30100-30200-30300. Third-Year Bangla SALC 20100-20200. Introduction to the Civilizations of South Asia SALC 20400. The Mahabharata in English Translation SALC 20901-20902. Indian Philosophy SALC 23002. Gender and Literature in South Asia SALC 29800. B.A. Paper
III. ECON 25500. Topics in Economic Growth and Development (1) HIND 20100-20200-20300. Second-Year Hindi SOSC 23004-23005-23006. Pune Program: South Asian Civilizations in India SALC 25701. Religion, Sex, Politics, and Release in Ancient India SALC 27000. Languages and Literatures of Pakistan SALC 29900. Informal Reading Course SOCI 20102. Social Change (1)
(1) Upon approval of the SALC adviser, provided the syllabus contains 50% South Asia content.
HONORS
To be eligible for honors, students must (1) maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher, (2) maintain a departmental GPA of 3.3 or higher, and (3) complete a B.A. paper of superior quality.
In order to be eligible to write a B.A. paper in SALC, students must meet the first two requirements by the Winter quarter of their third year (students must provide the departmental adviser with the SALC honors form obtained from the SALC adviser). In Winter Quarter of their third year, the student will arrange to work with a SALC faculty member or other faculty member in the Committee on Southern Asian Studies (see list at http://southasia.uchicago.edu/faccont.htm) for two quarters of the following year. It is the student's responsibility to locate and make an arrangement with an appropriate faculty member, who will be in residence during the student's fourth year.
Students will research, discuss, and write the B.A. paper in the context of SALC 29800-29801-29802. Students register for two of these courses in their fourth year. Credit toward the major is given for the second quarter of enrollment: SALC 29801 if the student also registered for SALC 29800; SALC 29802 if the student also registered for either SALC 29800 or 29801. The second quarter of enrollment is also the quarter in which the paper must be submitted.
The B.A. paper must be substantively different from any paper submitted to any other department, for honors or otherwise, and must be judged to be superior by the faculty adviser and a second faculty reader belonging to the Committee on Southern Asian Studies.
GRADING
Students pursuing a major or minor in South Asian Languages and Civilizations must take a quality grade in all courses used to meet department requirements. More than half of the requirements must be met by courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.
MINOR PROGRAM IN SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS
The minor program in South Asian Languages and Civilizations requires a total of six or seven courses, depending on whether the Introduction to South Asian Civilizations sequence (SALC 20100-20200 or two quarters of the South Asian Civilizations in India sequence taught in Pune, SOSC 23004-23005) are used to meet the general education requirement or to meet the minor program. If SALC 20100-20200 or SOSC 23004-23005 are not used to meet the general education requirement, two quarters must be included in the minor for a total of seven courses.
Students choose courses in consultation with the SALC Adviser. Requirements include:
- Two quarters of Introduction to South Asian Civilizations (SALC 20100-20200), or two quarters of the South Asian Civilizations in India program (SOSC 23004, 23005), if not used to meet the general education requirement in civilization studies. If either sequence has been used to meet the general education requirement, then one course related to South Asian civilizations that is approved by the SALC adviser will substitute for this requirement.
- Three University of Chicago courses in a language offered through the SALC Department. Credit may not be granted by examination.
- Two additional courses, either (a) listed as SALC courses or as one of the SALC languages (e.g. Bangla Bengali, Hindi, etc.), or (b) focused on South Asia that originate in other departments (subject to the approval of the departmental adviser).
I.
BANG 10100-10200-10300. First-Year Bangla
SALC 20700. Critics of Colonialism
SALC 20701. Postcolonial Theory
SALC 23900. Philosophical Education in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism
I.
SALC 20100-20200. Introduction to the Civilizations of South Asia
SALC 27701. Mughal India
SALC 33000. From Gender Critique to Gay Marriage: South Asian Texts and Events
TAML 20100-20200-20300. First-Year Tamil
II.
TLGU 10100-10200-10300. First-Year Telugu
SOSC 23004-23005-23006. Pune Program: South Asian Civilizations in India
SALC 22900. Performance and Politics in India
PUNE PROGRAM: SOUTH ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS (SOSC 23004-23005-23006)
One of the College's study abroad programs that meet the general education requirement in civilization studies, the Autumn Quarter program in Pune (Poona) is devoted to the study of South Asian history and culture. It is built upon a three-course civilizations sequence examining the history, culture, and society of the South Asian subcontinent through course work, field studies, and direct experience. During the first seven weeks of the quarter, the program will be based in the city of Pune where students will complete two courses and participate in expeditions to nearby cultural and historical sites.
In addition to the civilizations sequence, students take a fourth course in Hindi during the first seven weeks of the quarter. For students with no prior experience in South Asian languages, this course is designed to facilitate their access to local culture and to provide a basis for further study. Advanced sections will be held for those students with prior course work or experience in Hindi.
Pune is a city of some four million inhabitants, situated on the eastern foothills of the Indian western coastal mountains, or ghats, about 100 miles southeast of Mumbai. Labeled famously by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as "the Oxford and Cambridge of India," it is a major center for Indian art, religion, and higher education, and an ideal site for cultural immersion.
Students participating in the Pune Program receive three credits for the civilizations sequence, which meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. Students who have already met the civilization studies requirement may use these credits as electives. One credit will be received for the Hindi language course. One additional course credit for the SALC degree can be received for the third civilizations course, SOSC 23006. Course titles, units of credit, and grades will be placed on the Chicago transcript.
For further details, consult the Study Abroad website (http://study-abroad.uchicago.edu/programs/pune.html). For more information about this and other study abroad programs, contact Lewis Fortner, Director of Study Abroad at fortner@uchicago.edu. For information on other study abroad programs in South Asia, contact the SALC undergraduate adviser.