Summer Program> Summer Sanskrit Language Intensives at CBS in Kathmandu, June 10 - August 8 [discussion]
Dear List Members,Summer Sanskrit is once again being offered at Kathmandu University - Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute. After offering Beginning Sanskrit for seven years, we are happy to announce the addition of an Intermediate-level Sanskrit course this summer.
The new Intermediate Sanskrit course offers a unique opportunity to learn Sanskrit while working as a class to translate sections of an important Buddhist text, Bhāvanākrama (The Process of Meditation) by Kamalaśīla. The text was written at the request of the Tibetan Dharma King, Trisong Detsen, following the great debate at Samye, c. 794 CE. In addition to the translation work, students will discuss the text's historical and philosophical context, focusing on the idea of meditation and related concepts at the time of the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet. The instructor, Dr. Martin Adam, is presently revising an earlier translation of this work for publication. Dr. Adam studied Sanskrit at institutions in India, Switzerland and Canada before completing his PhD at McGill University in 2003. He is presently developing and teaching courses in Sanskrit for the Religious Studies Program at the University of Victoria, Canada.
The Beginning Sanskrit course will be taught again this year by Joseph LaRose. In this course, students learn all of the common elements of Sanskrit grammar, made easier by the variety of pedagogical tools the course employs as well as dozens of Joseph’s own resources that he has developed over his years of teaching. Students who complete this course will be well prepared for the next level of Sanskrit. Joseph has been teaching Sanskrit at McMaster University in Canada since 2009. Joseph's own study of Sanskrit began more than twenty years ago in Canada, and since then it has taken him to the United States and Europe. Currently, Joseph is a PhD student at McMaster University writing a dissertation on Indian Buddhist monasticism in the early Common Era. There is nothing he likes more than sharing his extensive knowledge of Sanskrit with the next generation of eager Sanskritists!
The courses also include instruction from a Sanskrit-speaking paṇḍita, Dr. Kashinath Nyaupane, who teaches in accord with traditional methods of Sanskrit learning, introducing both spoken Sanskrit and Sanskrit prosody, via the memorization of important and common Sanskrit meters. Both courses are held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, just a few minutes’ walk from the Great Stupa of Boudhanath in the Kathmandu Valley.
For more information, visit: http://www.ryi.org/summer-intensives
Sincerely,
Joanne Larson
Director of Programs
Kathmandu University
Centre for Buddhist Studies
at Rangjung Yeshe Institute
www.ryi.org
