|
         |
 |
|
HISTORY South Asia has become an integral part of today’s world. Its growing economic significance, its ancient culture, and its rich literary tradition have drawn international attention and acclamation. The University of Toronto is not only Canada’s leading research institution; it is also situated in a city where the South Asians will form the largest ethnic community by 2017. In an effort to diversify the university’s South Asian language offering of Sanskrit, Hindi and Bengali, the Tamil Students’ Association and the Students’ Administrative Council are leading the call for the introduction of Tamil courses. Tamil as a Classical language Tamil is a classical language. It is an official language of South India and Singapore, and has constitutional recognition in South Africa, with smaller communities of speakers in many other countries. Its native speakers number over 90 million people worldwide, and as of 1996 it was the 18th most spoken language in the world. As one of the few living classical languages, Tamil has an unbroken literary tradition of over two millennia, producing literature fit to stand alongside the best in the world. In fact, it is the only classical literary language of South Asia that is still being spoken. Its subtleties are taught at universities across the globe. In the United States alone, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, University of California at Berkeley, Cornell University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Virginia all offer Tamil at the university level. Tamil in Toronto Toronto is a city with over 250,000 speakers of the language – a population comparable to the Tamil-speaking population of the entire United States. Toronto has the largest Tamil speaking population outside of India or Sri Lanka, and is a city where the South Asians will form the largest ethnic community by 2017. Our endeavor to bring forth Tamil Studies has shown a wide variety of aptitude from the active student community. Though our efforts instigated from the University of Toronto, we have since branched out and now boast a strong connective matrix of committed students from various universities. Through this combined effort, we were able to accomplish a great feat. University of Toronto Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada's largest and most distinguished university. Consistently ranked Canada's top research-intensive university by Maclean's magazine, U of T offers teaching programs in 17 academic divisions. Its programs are held on the historic St. George campus in downtown Toronto, on campuses in Mississauga and Scarborough and in nine fully affiliated teaching hospitals in Toronto. South Asian Studies Department The South Asian studies program examines the history and culture of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Modern studies emphasize the history and development of South Asia's political, cultural and social institutions, the nature of the economy and the significance of class and ideology in the modern dynamics of continuity and change. Programs may stress either the ancient or the modern aspects of
South Asian and may explore those elements, which fuse traditional
religion and culture with contemporary patterns of politics and
society. The South Asian Studies Department is housed in New College
at the University of Toronto. Presently South Asian language courses
are being offered in Bengali, Hindi and Sanskrit. |