Sanskrit
The Sanskrit program in Classics at Brown is expanding dramatically with the appointment of James L. Fitzgerald as Das Professor of Sanskrit, to join senior lecturer Peter Scharf. New regular course offerings at the second and third year level are being developed and will be offered starting in Fall 2008. These courses will systematically introduce students to the major genres of Sanskrit texts. In addition, new undergraduate Classics courses in the literary and intellectual history of ancient India are also being added, starting in Fall 2008; graduate seminars in Sanskrit and Classics will follow. The Classics B.A. program in Sanskrit will be augmented by these developments, as will the undergraduate and graduate programs in Classics and Sanskrit. M.A. and Ph.D. tracks in Sanskrit are under development and should be available beginning in Fall 2009. Among new courses likely to be offered in 2008-09 are two Classics courses in translation, in the Old Indian Epics (Fall 2008) and in Classical Indian Systems of Philosophy (Spring 2009), and two new third-year Sanskrit courses (Early Sanskrit Philosophy and Religion and The Classical Indian Philosophical Schools). The Department of Classics will co-sponsor the Second International Sanskrit Computational Linguistics Symposium and Sanskrit Library Workshop at Brown University 15-17 May 2008. Please see the Symposium website for further details. An international conference on "Philosophy in the Mahābhārata" is being planned for Spring 2009, and the likely new offerings for that semester will afford interested students an opportunity to attend and follow the conference with comprehension.