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Sanskrit

Sanskrit is an Indian classical language whose history stretches back over three thousand years.

For much of that time, Sanskrit has been the primary vehicle of intellectual, literary, and religious expression in India.

BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Sanskrit)

The BA Sanskrit is a three-year degree. The course aims to give students a solid grounding in the Classical Sanskrit language, and to impart at the same time a general knowledge of the Indian cultural setting in which Sanskrit has had its life and meaning.

A substantial amount of the teaching proceeds through the close reading and understanding of texts. Emphasis is placed at the same time on developing:

  • a broad understanding of the major literary and intellectual developments in Sanskrit
  • developing a familiarity with what modern scholars have identified as key debates and topics
  • and developing an understanding of the history of Western scholarship on India. 
Alongside the study of Sanskrit, students choose one subsidiary language option, which is studied in the second and third years of the course. Students may choose from among:
  • Hindi
  • Early Iranian (Including Avestan, Old Persian, and/or Middle Persian)
  • Pali
  • Prakrit
  • and Tibetan.
 
Students on the Chinese BA course may choose Sanskrit as a subsidiary option.

BA in Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Sanskrit can also be studied as a main or second subject in the joint degree of Classics and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. This course allows you to combine the study of a Middle Eastern language and culture with Latin and/or Greek and the study of the ancient world.

BA in Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Religion and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies is a three-year course that gives you the opportunity to combine the study of Sanskrit with a range of options offered as by the Theology Faculty.