Undergraduate

This sequence is a continuation of First-Year Bangla and aims at gaining intermediate high proficiency in the language. Students who have prior knowledge of elementary Bengali can join the course. The course concentrates equally on speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. At the end of the course the learner is supposed to have a command of Bengali language and culture that allows him/her to communicate with native speakers with ease. He/she will have sufficient reading abilities to comprehend non-technical modern texts. Evaluation will be based on classroom performance, homework assignments, projects, tests, and final examination.

Meeting times will be arranged after discussing with students.

This sequence concentrates on developing skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing Bangla at the novice and intermediate low levels. It is designed both for scholars who want to do research on Bengal and for those who want to gain proficiency in elementary Bangla for communication purposes. Evaluation will be based on classroom performance, attendance, homework assignments, projects, quizzes and final examination.

Meeting times will be arranged after discussing with students.

In the height of nineteenth-century triumph of progress, rationalism, and disenchantment with religion, many European and American intellectuals found inspiration in Buddhism as a spirituality fit for modern times, and expressed it in philosophy, literature, and even opera. On the other side, in Asian societies struggling with colonization, many intellectuals condemned Buddhism as a remnant of premodern superstition, while others hailed it as an essential element for the construction of modern identity and of the superiority of the “spiritual East” against the “materialist West.” These debates and images still determine the way in which Buddhism is globally represented today. In this course, we will discuss Buddhism and modernity using examples from various geographical and historical contexts, ranging from Nietzsche, to the American Beat generation, and to contemporary issues of nationalism and violence in South Asia. We will place the careful examination of these topics within the discussion of broader issues, such as the place of religion in modernity, cultural difference and appropriation, and the intersection of religion, gender, and race.

This intermediate sequence covers second-level pronunciation and grammar of the modern Lhasa dialect, as well as intermediate-level reading and speaking skills.

The Tibetan language, with a history going back more than one thousand years, is one of Asia’s major literary languages. At the present time, it is the first language of close to seven million people in Tibet, as well as in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. The textbook is The Manual of Standard Tibetan by Nicolas Tournade and Sangda Dorje. This introductory sequence covers the script and pronunciation, the grammar of the modern Lhasa dialect, as well as basic reading and speaking skills.

The grammar of modern Tamil, in its manifestation both in colloquial and formal styles, and a good amount of vocabulary needed for referring to the immediate environment and using in day today transactions will be acquired. The four language skills acquired will be at different levels of proficiency with listening and speaking at the top followed by reading of formal texts and ending with basic writing skills in the formal style. The gradual progression in listening will be from teacher-student to speaker-speaker; in speaking it will be from articulation of sounds and intonation to expressing personal needs and interests, performing practical tasks, narrating experience and expressing emotions; in reading it will be from alphabet and spelling in the two styles to sign boards, controlled texts, factual news stories, interpretive reports and jokes; in writing from conversion of colloquial style into conventional style to personal letters, paraphrasing and translation of sentences. The tools used are classroom conversations, conversational tapes, videos, graded print materials, select materials from the print media including tales, which are complemented by exercises and quizzes.

The intermediate-level Sanskrit sequence will equip students to apply the core grammar concepts that they learned in the introductory course to selected narrative, poetic, dramatic, philosophical, and scholastic texts in Sanskrit. In-class activities and selected assignments that develop skills in writing, speaking, listening, and vocabulary retention will support students' success in reading the text(s) at hand. Students will expand their abilities to apply grammar concepts by bringing increased attention to syntax and morphology. Students will be able to identify major poetic meters. Students will begin to build the skills that they will need to make use of Sanskrit commentarial works. As a whole, the sequence in Intermediate Sanskrit will prepare students to read and analyze Sanskrit texts in a range of literary styles at the advanced level, and to do so with confidence.