Students will have another option next year to fulfill the first half of the six-semester foreign language requirement. Experimental College courses in Hindi/Urdu I and II will satisfy the first two of three required basic language courses, and the University plans to add Hindi/Urdu III for the 2003-2004 academic year to fulfil the final course in the triplet.
Hindi/Urdu I will be offered during the fall 2002 semester, followed by Hindi/Urdu II in the spring. Given enough demand, Hindi/Urdu III will be taught the following fall semester as the final course in the required foreign language triplet. But if student interest is insufficient for a third course, students will be given an independent study or alternative option for completion of the requirement, Ex College director Robyn Gittleman said.
Tufts Association of South Asians (TASA) has worked to launch a University program in Hindi/Urdu for the past four years. Two years ago the Ex College offered Hindi/Urdu I and II, but only conversational Hindi/Urdu was taught last year. Although the courses will remain part of the Ex College for now - rather than part of College of Liberal Arts - that could change given enough demand.
The approved courses are the first step towards an expansion of South Asian studies at Tufts, sophomore Pritesh Gandhi said. Gandhi co-chaired the South Asian Political Action Committee (SAPAC), a subdivision of TASA, with sophomore Vaani Garg. The two worked with administrators and the Ex College to approve the Hindi/Urdu courses.
Gandhi is pushing the University to establish a South Asian studies program with degree paths. "Hindi/Urdu is a critical part," he said. "I felt that an upper ranking university should have Hindi/Urdu as a top language."
Gittleman said he hopes more students will study Hindi/Urdu since the courses satisfy the requirement. "India and Pakistan are so important today. If [students] are going to travel or read [South Asian] newspapers, it's worth it to be able to read them in the original language," Gittleman said.
Garg said students, both in TASA and in the general Tufts community, are enthusiastic about the classes. "The subcontinent is so popular and is such a great part of the news and in international affairs right now. Classes, such as the language, are critical to understanding the culture," Garg added.
Thirteen students took Hindi/Urdu I last semester, and eight are currently in Hindi/Urdu II - numbers similar to those generated by Chinese and Arabic courses that the Ex College has offered in the past. Student drop-off from one level of a language to the next is typical, but Gittleman worries that there may not be enough demand for Hindi/Urdu III.
Garg said the drop-off from semester to semester is the very reason a third class is needed; without it, some are dissuaded from starting on the Hindi/Urdu course path. "We wanted a third class so more students would enroll, so it would fulfill a requirement."
Hindi/Urdu students have provided positive feedback on the I and II level courses, which are taught by Sooda Bhatt.
"Students say the professor is phenomenal," Garg said. "He's very open to the students and enthusiastic about teaching the language, which is difficult to learn."
Bhatt has taught Hindu/Urdu I and II this year and is slated to continue the courses next year. He holds a Ph.D. in linguistics and a M.A. in Hindi literature, and has instructed courses in Hindi and Urdu over the past thirty years. "Current students say he is an amazing professor. We'd like to keep ranking professors like that here," Gandhi said.
Gittleman said the Ex College often serves as a "testing ground" to determine whether a course should move into Arts and Sciences or Engineering. A popular Ex College course can be tied into an already existing class or program, moved up to an official course if students show sufficient interest, or adopted by a traditional department.
Gandhi said that South Asian courses are an important complement to the Asian studies major. He calls the Hindi/Urdu classes "Phase I" of his goals for the expansion of South Asian studies at Tufts. He would also like to see the establishment of a South Asian culture house, South Asian culture classes, and an increase in South Asian professors. His final goal is the development of a South Asian studies major and minor. Hindi/Urdu courses would likely be integrated into the German, Russian and Asian languages and literatures department should it be decided to make them College of Liberal Arts offerings.
Forty-one million people in Pakistan and other countries speak Urdu, and over 180 million Indians use Hindi as their primary tongue. Another 300 million people use it as their second language, and approximately 100,000 people speak Hindi in the US. Hindi and Urdu are similar when spoken, but are written in different alphabets.
Local languages vary immensely within the different regions in India. English is often the common language, but is not always popular because of its frequent association with British imperialism. Many in the region want to abandon English and use Hindi as the common language to retain closer ties to their heritage.
In the past decade the region has seen increased international attention, especially after India and Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear weapons. Tensions have risen in recent months, including some border unrest in the wake of Sept. 11 following a Pakistani terrorist group's attack on India's Parliament. Pakistan, where Urdu is the official language, is America's closest geographic ally to Afghanistan.
