University of Virginia Library

Asian Study Group Plans Expansion

'Soundings'

By John Casteen

The University's Committee for
South Asian Studies has submitted
a proposal for a program of National
Defense Language Graduate
Fellowships in Hindi-Urdu, under
the South Asia program of NDEA
Title VI. This proposal asks for 10
federal fellowships, in the range of
$2500-$3000 per year, to support
graduate study in the government,
history, sociology, anthropology,
and languages in India, Pakistan,
and Ceylon. If the fellowships are
granted, they will become the core
of a greatly expanded South Asia
area program here at the University.

Members of the Committee for
South Asian Studies are Professors
Alfred Fernbach (Government and
Foreign Affairs), Walter Hauser
(History), Hugh S. Plunkett
(Sociology and Anthropology), and
John T. Roberts (Hindi and Linguistics).
In addition to these regular
committee members, the committee
has associate or consulting
members working in several different
fields, including education,
psychiatry, and bibliography or librarianship.
Mr. Roberts is committee
chairman.

University Involvement

We talked recently with Mr.
Roberts, who described his committee's
plans for an expanded
South Asia area program. We asked
him how the University came to be
involved in this subject area. "The
University has always had an international
outlook," he explained.
"Jefferson's original plans included
a faculty of ancient and modern
languages, and University scholars
and students have always worked in
areas that have to do with the
world-at-large. In many ways, the
South Asia program is the logical
next step in our growth as an
international university. Professors
in History and Government and
Foreign Affairs realized in the late
1950's that South Asian affairs
were too important to be ignored
here at the University. Government
and Foreign Affairs began offering
graduate India work in 1958, with
Professors Egger and Fernbach
teaching. The History Department
hired Walter Hauser in 1960 as its
first full-time Indianist.

Indian Studies

"Since the mid or late 1950's,"
Mr. Roberts continued, "our involvement
with South Asia has increased
each year. Dean Younger,
for example, lectured and studied
in India in 1957 and again in 1959.
Professor Rowland Egger was a
consultant to the pre-Ayub government
in Pakistan. Several other
professors - including Quincey
Wright and Percy Corbett - were
working on Indian problems. Since
about 1960 several Indianists have
come here from elsewhere. With
this background, we have slowly
developed a broad South Asian
studies program as an integral part
of our general academic program,
without a separate department and
without a special budget. What we
want to do now, with the proposed
fellowships and with other tools, is
pull together what we have."

What facilities are there other
than the faculty? "Several things.
Our library is 1 of only 18 in the
country that receive South Asia
materials under PL 480 India/
Pakistan program. Since 1960, the
University has bought independently
in this area. Right now, our
holdings include about 40,000
volumes in South Asian languages,
and several thousand related
volumes in other languages. Our
collection is unusual in that it keeps
everything; so it is much in demand
among scholars at other universities.
In addition to the books,
we have a large and growing periodicals
collection which includes
all major newspapers and magazines
in all South Asian languages and
from all areas.

Range Of Languages

"We offer a good range of languages,
and we can offer more as the
need develops. Language study is
important to South Asian work
because few American students
have been exposed to the area's
languages in undergraduate school.
In addition to our facilities here, we
participate in the East Coast South
Asia Consortium, which will be at
the University of Rochester for the
next 2 summers. This consortium,
combined with the Virginia Asian
Studies Program, of which we are
the leading member, provides a
wide range of opportunities, from
visiting lecturers and joint seminars
to a full program of summer studies.
The summer consortium allows
us to draw on the teaching and
research wealth of South Asia programs
throughout the country."

We asked Mr. Roberts to describe
a typical graduate program in
South Asian studies. "The program
will vary from department to department,
because there is no
degree in South Asian studies as
such. A typical program would call
for 18 hours in the major field
during the first year. The major
field might be history, government,
anthropology, or sociology. In addition,
the student would take 12
hours in a related field. A history
major could, for example, take 12
hours of sociology. And he would
have to offer the equivalent of a
second-year course in an area language.
A student with no previous
language background would have to
take 2 years of language to satisfy
the requirement. Or he could take
one year here and a summer in the
consortium. Thesis requirements
vary in the different departments.
In the year after the M.A., the
student would begin his course
work, probably finishing it in the
second year after the M.A. Then he
would do his dissertation in the
third year. The doctoral program
consists of 2 or 3 years of intensive
study in a major field, with a
conventional dissertation.

Work In South Asia

"In addition to work here, most
students will work in South Asia. 6
of our students have already
studied there, and more will do so
as we expand. Professor Rao, at
Patiyala University in Punjab, has
lectured here, and we have a sort of
loose, ad-hoc exchange agreement
with him. India and Ceylon are
especially anxious to have
Americans study within their borders;
Pakistan is more difficult, but
not impossible. Since we have a
good working relationship with Professor
Rao, and since our faculty
has been active in South Asia for
several years, we are in a good
position to place our students
there."

Grants For Study

Where will students find money
to study in South Asia? "Some of it
may have to come from here, but
not really very much. Both the
Danforth and Fulbright-Hayes programs
provide for South Asian
study. The American Institute for
Indian Studies has just received a
renewal of its Ford
Foundation-sponsored fellowship
program. And there are several
other programs that work in the
area. Field work is very important
in South Asian studies, and support
for it goes along with a commitment
to excellence in the field."

"I really believe that we have a
bright future here. Our program is
growing. Our faculty is excited
about its work. The Library is
actively involved in collecting research
materials for us. And the
administration is sympathetic to
our problems. Once we have these
federal grants and the students that
will come along with them, we can
move ahead to become a major
South Asian studies center. The
area is vital - both to the scholar
and to the layman - because South
Asia is growing and expanding in
population and economic importance
all the time. We have to keep
pace with that growth."