The Department of South Asian Studies offers courses in Hindi-Urdu, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Tibetan (Classical) (Colloquial) as well as other South Asian languages. Offerings rang in level from introductory language courses to graduate seminars.
South Asian Studies faculty also teach courses in other departments and programs at Harvard, including Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Freshman Seminars, General Education, History, History of Art and Architecture, Music, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Religion.
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South Asian Studies course listings can be found in the Harvard Course Catalog. To aid in your course search, Q guides course evaluation data (HarvardKey required) are helpful in supplying student feedback about courses.
Featured Course
HIND-URD 104: The Classical Urdu Ghazal and Its Symbolism
A survey of the popular literary genre with a focus on the classical period. Includes close readings of selected poems of Vali Dakkani, Siraj Aurangabadi, Mir Taqi Mir, Mir Dard, Haidar Ali Atish, Mirza Ghalib, and others, along with discussions of the conventions, stylistics, and the religious and mystical symbolism of the ghazal. A high degree of reading and writing proficiency in Urdu is required. Assignments include weekly responses in Urdu and a final paper. Students who possess a similar degree of proficiency in Hindi but cannot read and write Urdu and wish to take the class should contact the instructor.
No auditors. Must be taken for a letter grade.
Language Tutorials
Nepali, Thai, Colloquial Tibetan, and other South Asian languages (Bahasa Indonesia, Kashmiri, Gujarati, Tamil, Tibetan (Classical), Hindi-Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Nepali, Burmese, and Tibetan (Colloquial)) may also be offered through our language tutorial program. With an emphasis on written expression, reading comprehension, and oral fluency, languages in the tutorial program are offered by petition when there is demonstrated curricular or academic need on the part of an undergraduate or GSAS graduate student, and when suitable instruction can be arranged. These tutorials need to be approved by the Office of Undergraduate Education. Students must submit a petition in advance of the desired term of study. In the petition, students must demonstrate a strong academic need to take the language and explain how the language study would fit into their overall academic plan. Career and heritage interest in studying the language is not sufficient for approval.