Not all bad news: Sanskrit in Canberra

[McComas Taylor]

I am pleased to report that Sanskrit is very much alive at the 
Australian National University, Canberra, where we continue to offer an 
undergraduate Major in Sanskrit. We have been enjoying a fruitful 
collaboration with the Unviersity of Sydney for a number of years in the 
joint provision of Sanskrit education. Enrolments have never been large, 
but Sanskrit students, here as elsewhere, are better measured in terms 
of quality than quantity. We are very proud of the incorporation of 
Spoken Sanskrit in our curriculum, and while maintaining the highest 
standards of rigour in regard to the teaching of formal grammar, we 
tailor courses to the needs of contemporary students: yoga teachers and 
students, practitioners of Indian spiritual traditions, heritage 
students, etc. This is all taking place within an upsurge in South Asian 
studies at the ANU in general, fostered by a number of significant 
appointments and new structural arrangements in this field. We are 
expecting to annuonce the re-establishment of a South Asia Centre within 
the Faculty of Asian Studies in the very future. We are planning the 
first national gathering of Australian Sanskritists in Canberra in June 
2007.

jaya saMskRtam !

Apologies for cross-postings and happy Divali!