Apropos the recent thread on this list, all those of you who may be interested in doing some thyāsaphū or other manuscript reading and feel the need to brush up their Newar (or Nepālbhāṣā), or like to get a first exposure to the language (and its scripts), or simply love reading Newar, in either its classical or modern variant or both, do consider joining us online in Toronto for our summer school which we will be running again this coming June .

The Toronto Newar Summer School offers the opportunity to learn to speak the idiom of the Kathmandu Valley and the Newar diaspora, to access the vast Buddhist and Hindu literature preserved in classical Newar, and to delve into the texts of a thriving contemporary literary Himalayan society.

Srilaxmi Shrestha, M.A., an acclaimed private teacher of Newar and Nepali in Leiden, the Netherlands, will be conducting the Devanagari script-based conversational Newar class. Geeta Manandhar, M.A., is a well-known teacher of Newar and Nepali who has taught many generations of Nepal scholars and who will be teaching the spoken-only conversational Newar class (with no Devanagari reading skills required). The modern literary Newar class will be taught by Dr. Bal Gopal Shrestha, one of the leading Nepalese anthropologists of Newar Buddhism, author of The Sacred Town of Sankhu (2012). The tutorials supplementing the conversational Newar courses will be offered by Ian Turner, M.A., doctoral student in Buddhist Studies at UofT. UofT professor Dr. Christoph Emmrich, who teaches courses in Newar religion and literature, will be offering the classical Newar classes. Academic lectures round off the programme.

Learners may enroll in one or more of the four classes (plus one tutorial), depending on whether they want to focus on modern (spoken only or/and spoken and written) or on literary(classical and modern) Newar. Participants at all levels are welcome. Familiarity with the Devanagari script is expected for all courses, except for the spoken-only conversational Newar course. Beginners receive a first exposure to the language. Intermediate level students have the opportunity to strengthen their skills. Advanced readers will conduct supervised translations from editions and manuscripts. Classes are of the duration of 2 hours per day, Monday to Saturday, for two weeks.

Informal applications should include information about the applicant's level, the courses they are interested in taking, and a few lines on what brings them to study Newar. The application deadline is March 31, 2025. The application, as well as all enquiries, should be sent to Christoph Emmrich at christoph.emmrich@utoronto.ca.