Caitanya Sanskrit Tol

[Nitaidas]

I am reviving an old idea I had years ago but never could figure out how to get it off the ground. The Caitanya Sanskrit Tol is going to become an online school. It will eventually offer a full set of courses in the the Sanskrit language and in other areas of Sanskrit learning. Most of the courses will require a knowledge of Sanskrit, but many will not. The introductory courses, for instance, will be carried out in English using English translations.

Gradually I will fill out the curriculum. I will be using my Sanskrit teacher's text to teach Sanskrit. It will cover the first two years (four courses). Eventually, I will also put together a language course using the Harinamamrta Vyakarana of Sri Jiva (the first or laghu version might have been by Sanatana).

I have some experience using online teaching tools because of teaching at Truman State U. They are gradually switching over to more online courses because of the budget cuts that have been hitting the academic institutions in this country. Even if a course is not online, much use is made of online systems like Blackboard. I am creating the school using Moodle which seems to work well.

The school will not be free, but it will be cheaper than going to just about any American university.

As I have always wanted, the school will not just teach Sanskrit and Sanskrit literature, though someone who just wants to study those subjects will certainly be able to do so. I would like the sort of education one gets at CST to be well rounded. We are all citizens of the world and should be educated in that way. So I am looking for qualified teachers to teach other subjects like science, mathematics, Western literature, other languages, etc. It would be great if we could eventually put together a four year curriculum that is equal to or better than what one would get at other colleges and universities.

I am also hoping to strike up deals with other institutions who have an occasional need to have Sanskrit and other Indian subjects taught but do not have the staff to cover them. Maybe we could even work out an exchange system such that the students at other universities can take some of the courses at CST and CST students can take courses at those universities in subjects we do not cover. I don't know. Anything is possible.

I am still working on the first two courses and will keep you all posted.

You can get a little preview here.

[Nitaidas]

I have been making some progress on the Caitanya Sanskrit Tol site. There are two courses listed there now. The first is Introduction to Sanskrit which is scheduled to begin in June. I have pretty much decided on the readings. It will basically consist of weekly lectures by me which will be posted there and which are based on the readings for the week. There will be weekly quizzes and periodic exams and papers. We will also set up times for chatting about the weekly readings and lectures. The idea of the course is to survey the whole length and breadth of Sanskrit literary production, not just literature but every field in which works in Sanskrit have been written. We will then look at various questions that have been raising about the subject such as the Aryna Debate, how the chronology is established, and the question of Orientalism. The idea is to place the Sanskrit world in context and prepare for the study of the language itself.

People can become members of the site without actually enrolling in the courses. I see one of the members of this site has already done that. Everyone is welcome. There are news boards there and more detailed discussions of the courses can be carried on there.

The second course is Beginning Sanskrit 1 which will begin in the Fall. I am working on typesetting the first 10 chapters of my teacher's book Laghu-pada-parijata. in preparation for that.

The third course will be Beginning Sanskrit 2 which will start in January of 2013 and will cover the next 10 chapters of Sastri's book.

Intermediate Sanskrit 1 and 2 will be scheduled for the fall of 2013 and the spring of 2014 and will cover the rest of Sastris book (chapters 21-40). A summer course may be developed on the lines of Introduction to Sanskrit but instead be an Introduction to Indian Philosophy or Literature or the Vedic texts.

Advanced Sanskrit will be a series of readings from various Sanskrit texts in various fields.

Each course is 12 weeks long. Go check it out.

[vkaul1]

I will surely join you Nitai ji.

[Nitaidas]

Feb 21, 2012 20:05:26 GMT -6 vkaul1 said:

I will surely join you Nitai ji.

Great. I am making some progress in editing and typesetting Sastri's book. I will post the most recent version later today.

[spiritualbhakti]

Excellent!

[Nitaidas]

Feb 26, 2012 18:09:10 GMT -6 spiritualbhakti said:

Excellent!

Join up. You can become a member of the school without necessarily taking a class. That gives you access to blogs and news and other things. Gradually it is coming together. We might, I say might, have a music teacher joining us.