American Institute of Indian Studies

LANGUAGE STUDY IN INDIA

Sept 2008 - May 2009

Hindi (Jaipur) Bengali (Kolkata)

Tamil (Madurai) Punjabi (Chandigarh)

Marathi (Pune) Urdu (Lucknow)

DEADLINE: Jan. 31, 2008

Eligibility

The Advanced Language Program in India is open to graduate, junior or senior level students at an institution of higher education in the U.S. who are pursuing an academic or government service career. Teachers in area studies are also eligible to apply. Applicants need to have a minimum of two years or 240 class hours of classroom instruction in the target language before starting the program. Applicants for other Indian languages not listed above may be considered. Applicants who have one year of language preparation at the time of application may be considered, provided they successfully complete an intensive second-year summer language program before their departure for India. The selection is conducted without reference to race, sex, religion, national origin, or home institution. Students with disabilities are encouraged to apply; AIIS will make all reasonable efforts to accommodate them.

Language Program

Contingent on funding by the U.S. Department of Education and approval by the Government of India, the program for 2008-2009 will begin in September 2008. Instruction will be offered at the AIIS Language Centers and the program will be administered in India by AIIS staff. This is an intensive language program that provides four hours of classroom instruction five days a week. Classes are small and multiple individual tutorials are provided. There will be regular assignments outside of class and there is special emphasis on connecting with the local speech community and on self-management of learning. Participants are encouraged to identify and prioritize their needs and keep track of their language development. Participants must take part in all program events, such as attending films, plays, and other cultural activities. They are also encouraged to stay with local host families This is not a research program; participants are expected to devote all their energies to activities that will increase their competence in all areas of language skills--speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Participants will have ample opportunity to study their research-related materials in the target language during personal tutorials.

Fellowships

A number of fellowships will be awarded on a competitive basis, and will include round-trip airfare to India and a maintenance allowance sufficient to cover living expenses. No funding will be provided for dependents and under the DOED funding rules no family members or friends may accompany the students. Students funded by their own college or university or from any other source, such as FLAS fellowships must follow the same application procedures as applicants for AIIS fellowships.

Application Procedure

A check for $25 made payable to the American Institute for Indian Studies must accompany each application to cover processing costs. There is no program fee for fellows; the program fee for non-fellows will be $6000. Applications and information are available at member institutions of the AIIS, from the AIIS headquarters or on the web:

American Institute of Indian Studies, 1130 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637. Tel. (773) 702-8638. <aiis@uchicago.edu>

http://www.indiastudies.org

The American Institute of Indian Studies is a cooperative, non-profit organization, whose members are American colleges and universities with a special interest in Indian studies.