Hindi/Urdu
The Hindi/Urdu program in the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations offers Hindi/Urdu language courses, as well as courses taught in English about South Asian culture and literature.
The Department encourages its students to spend either an academic year or a semester abroad, though there are summer options as well. There are study abroad programs for beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of Hindi. Students from our program have also received prestigious scholarships to participate in intensive language programs in India, including the Foreign Language Area Scholarship (FLAS) and scholarships from the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS).
Hindi/Urdu Language Courses
Hindi and Urdu are spoken by some 500 million people in India and Pakistan, and throughout the world. Hindi-Urdu is the language of Bollywood cinema and song, journalism, education, commerce, religion, and literature. Although some consider Hindi and Urdu to be separate languages, they share a common grammar and core vocabulary, and are often identical in colloquial speech. In writing a key difference becomes apparent, as Hindi uses the Devanagari script, while Urdu uses the Perso-Arabic script. We offer a three-year course sequence in Hindi/Urdu, in which students learn both Hindi and Urdu scripts. Earlier courses in this sequence develop students’ practical skills in both spoken and written Hindi/Urdu. Advanced courses are organized around themes such as media and journalism, and topics in Hindi/Urdu literature. The Hindi/Urdu course sequence fulfills language requirements for various majors, including theÌýÌýoffered by the Center for Asian Studies, and the Major in International Affairs.Ìý
Undergraduate
The following courses may count toward the minor in Hindi/Urdu, subject to approval by the academic advisor.Ìý
ANTHÌý4180 Anthropological Perspectives: Contemporary Issues (The Himalayas)
ANTH 4750 Culture and Society in South Asia
ANTH 4690 Anthropology of Tibet
GEOG 3832 Geographies of South Asia
HIND 3441 Screening India: A History of Bollywood Cinema
HIND 3811 The Power of the Word: Subversive and Censored 20th Century Indo-Pakistani Literature
HIND 3651 Living Indian Epics: The Ramayana and the Mahabharata in the ModernPolitical Imagination
HIND 3661 South Asian Diasporas: Imagining Home Abroad
HIND 3831 The Many Faces of Krishna in South Asia Literature and Culture
HIND 3851 Devotional Literature in South Asia
HIST 4329 Islam in the Modern World: Revivalism, Modernism, and Fundamentalism,1800-2001
HIST 4339 Borderlands of the British Empire
HIST 4349 Decolonization of the British Empire
HIST 4528 Islam in South and Southeast Asia (1000 to the Present)
HIST 4538 History of Modern India
HIST 4548 Women in Modern India
HIST 4558 Buddha to Gandhi: A History of Indian Nonviolence
HIST 4820 Human Rights: Historical Perspectives
IAFS 4500 The Post-Cold War World (South Asia)
IAFS 4500 The Post-Cold War World (South Asia/Conflict/Resolution)
IAFS 4500 The Post-Cold War World (Conflict/Culture in South Asia)
RLST 2610 Happiness and Nirvana: Enlightenment in Indian Religions
RLST 2612 Yoga: Ancient and Modern
RLST 3070 Islamic Mysticism: Ibn Arabi, Rumi, and the Sufi Tradition
RLST 3200 Yoga, Castes and Magic: Hindu Society and Spirituality
RLST 3300 Foundations of Buddhism
RLST 3550 Tibetan Buddhism
RLST 3820 Topics in Religious Studies (Tibetan Buddhism)
RLST 4200 Topics in Hinduism
RLST 4250 Topics in Buddhism
RLST 4280 Body and Magic in India
RLST 5210 Advanced Readings in Sanskrit
Courses
Faculty
Resources
Study Abroad - The Department encourages South Asian Studies minors to spend an academic year, semester or summer abroad. There are study abroad programs for beginning, intermediate and advanced levels of Hindi.Ìý
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