This course focuses on progressive acquisition of language skills to communicate effectively in Tamil. It facilitates development of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing competence along with basic grammar.

 

A study of the Buddhist tradition as it is found today in Asia. The course will focus on specific living traditions of East, South, and/or Southeast Asia. Themes to be addressed may include contemporary Buddhist ritual practices; funerary and mortuary customs; the relationship between Buddhism and other local religious traditions; the relationship between Buddhist institutions and the state; Buddhist monasticism and its relationship to the laity; Buddhist ethics; Buddhist "modernism," and so on.

Have you tasted sinigang, lumpia, adobo, or for the adventurous, even balut? This seminar course focuses on Philippine cuisine and literary works that use Filipino food as inspiration, theme, or metaphor. Each class uses a particular dish, cooking method, or Filipino ingredient as a starting point in the discussion of Philippine literature, culture, and history. Among the questions the course explores are: How can we understand the way of life and belief systems of the ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines through their cuisines?

Have you ever watched a foreign language film? This seminar course focuses on Philippine films, most of which are in the Filipino language with English subtitles. The course is divided into three main topics: 1) popular culture, film genres and formulas; 2) history, class dynamics, race, and gender in classic Philippine films ; and 3) documentaries, experimental cinema, and power discourse. Among the questions we shall explore are: How did Filipinx filmmakers follow or subvert the conventions of genres such as romance, horror, and action films?

The course entails substantial selected readings from the great Sanskirt epic poems--the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in translation, selected readings from the corpus of secondary literature on Indian epic studies as well as lectures on salient issues in both. Readings will be supplemented with selected showings of popular cinematic and television versions of the epics.

This course provides an overview of one of the world's largest and most beloved film industries, the popular Hindi cinema produced in Bombay (Mumbai) and consumed around the world under the label "Bollywood." The films and readings range from the post- Independence era to the present, with introduction to key films, directors, stars, genres, formal techniques, and themes. Our readings and viewings allow us to question and discuss the ways these films reflect and influence the cultures and society from which they emerge.

This course offers a broad historical and cultural survey of the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent from the 12th century to Partition in 1947. Attention will be paid to the geography and ethnography of the region, its political history, and the religious, philosophical, literary, and artistic movements that have shaped it and contributed to its development as a unique, diverse, and fascinating world civilization.

Sanskri101C introduces students to classical literary Sanskrit (sāhitya) and commentary, where available. An extended passage of a kāvya and/or an entire play (nāṭaka) is read. Works of Kālidāsa, Bhāsa, and the like are normally read. Developing strong reading skills is the focus of the class. Students develop skills to use hard copy and web based resources. Grammar is reviewed and explained as needed. Students are also introduced to current scholarship and trends in literary analysis. Students are expected to memorize at least one verse per class.

Elements of Sanskrit grammar and practice in reading Sanskrit texts. Sanskrit 100A, followed by 100B, introduces students to Sanskrit grammar, with the goal of developing the skills necessary to speak and read basic, simple Sanskrit texts. Sanskrit 100A covers lessons 1–12 of the Devavāṇīpraveśikā , including, the script, sandhi, the present system , the karmaṇi and bhāve prayoga-s, the laṭ, laṅ, and the loṭ, and bhūte kṛdanta-s, and past active participles, nominal stems in –a/ā, i/ī, u/ū, an, aḥ, iḥ, uḥ, ant, ṛ, and in .

This course focuses on building the student’s knowledge of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Selected readings will be assigned depending on the interest of the students. These begin the starting point to stimulate the student’s own writings, which might include poetry, short stories, drama or fiction. A historical review of Punjabi literary genres will be explored, including a dive into poetic meters, tropes, idioms, proverbs, and literary devices.