Sanskrit is the classical language of the Indian subcontinent. The oldest stage of the language is that of the Veda, the fundamental scriptures of Hinduism which date back to some twelve centuries BCE. The classical stage of the language, from some five centuries BCE onward, is the vehicle of a vast and varied literature from epics and poetry to Hindu, Buddhist, and...
The Berkeley Urdu Initiative was officially launched in September 2011 to sustain, enrich, and expand the Urdu Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a global leader in the study of South Asia, and one of very few institutions in the United States to offer both undergraduate and graduate degree programs focusing on numerous aspects of this...
The extraordinary legacy of Hindi at UC Berkeley begins in the 1950s, when renowned linguist, Prof. John J. Gumperz introduced Hindi instruction at Berkeley. Gumperz wrote extensively on South Asian sociolinguistics and also produced the first widely used Hindi-Urdu readers and instructional materials in the US. On Gumperz’s invitation one of modern...
The Bangla Studies Initiative supports the instruction in Bangla language and literature at Berkeley. Spoken both in India and Bangladesh, Bangla is the fifth most commonly spoken language in the world, and is the language of some of the world’s greatest writers and creative artists, such as Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and...
Tamil language and literature has been taught at Berkeley for almost fifty years now. Between 1973 and 2011, the Tamil Studies Program was carefully stewarded by Professor (Emeritus) George L. Hart III and Professor Kausalya Hart. The former is best known for such well known books as ...
The Institute for South Asia Studies (ISAS) at the University of California, Berkeley is one of the world’s foremost centers for research and programs on South Asia. ISAS works with faculty members, graduate students, community members, private institutions, and non-profit organizations to deepen understanding of the region and to create new generations of scholars of South...