Undergraduate programs
Undergraduate units of study are offered in Sanskrit and Pali. Senior undergraduate units are also offered in Hindi and Urdu for currently enrolled students wishing to complete a major.
In addition units are offered in Indian and Buddhist philosophy, religion, history and culture through the Asian Studies Program (in the School of Languages and Cultures) and the Department of Studies in Religion (in the School of Letters, Art and Media). Please contact these departments directly for more information.
Sanskrit is the primary cultural language of India. It is the language of the Hindu scriptures, of many of the Buddhist scriptures and also of much writing of the Jains. It is the language of a huge body of Indian poetry, drama, law books, as well as political and scientific literature. Sanskrit has had a major impact on the languages of Southeast Asia particularly Thai and Javanese, and on the emergence of Classical Tibetan. It is related to Greek and Latin and indeed to virtually all European languages. If you are interested in comparative linguistics or classics, you would find studying Sanskrit both interesting and helpful. Anyone who enjoys languages will find Sanskrit’s refined and transparent structure a rewarding and satisfying study experience in itself. Students can complete a major in Sanskrit or Hindi and Urdu.
Sanskrit major
Students who wish to major in Sanskrit will need to complete 36 senior credit points in Sanskrit units of study.
Hindi, the most widely spoken language of India, is the mother tongue of some 300 million people in India. Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. But did you know the two languages are grammatically the same? They differ in script and vocabulary: Urdu is written in a modified form of the Persian script and draws on Arabic and Persian for its learned and technical vocabulary, while Hindi is written in Devanagari script (as is Sanskrit) and draws on Sanskrit for its learned and technical vocabulary. Apart from their contemporary importance, the two languages have an unbroken literature of about 900 years.
Hindi and Urdu major
Students who wish to major in Hindi and Urdu will need to complete:
- HIUR2601 and 2602
- HIUR3601 and 3602
plus two 6 credit point units of study chosen from:
- Applied Hindi (Summer School at ANU)
- Any Sanskrit senior unit
- ARBC2613 Arabic Language and Literature 3 or ARBC2614 Arabic Language and Literature 4
- ASNS2620 Classical Indian Philosophy
- ARIS2673 Islam and Muslims in World History
- ARIS2674 Islam in Politics: Modernity and Challenges
- ARIS2675 Society and Politics in the Middle East
- ARIS2676 Issues and Debate in Arab Culture
Pali is a major canonical language of Buddhism. The scriptures of the Theravada School of Buddhism, which represent the oldest Buddhist writings preserved in an Indic language, are in Pali, as are the commentaries and historical literature of the School.
If you choose to study Pali, you will gain a grounding in the language enough for you to read simple texts in Pali. A major is not offered in Pali.
