Inclusion of Nepali language in NCSU is a recognition of Nepali as a dignified community

Thanks to persistent efforts of a Nepali academic and literary activist, North Carolina State University (NCSU) of USA has recently included Nepali into its curriculum. An applied anthropologist, HARIHAR P. BHATTARAI was born in Tanhun and did his M. A. in Nepali literature from Tribhuvan University. During his 12 year-long- association with the TU, Dr. Bhattarai served in various national and international organizations in the capacity of language, literature, folklore, and technological expert.. After acquiring Ph. D. in anthropology from the University of North Carolina, he is now engaged in teaching and research at the same university. He replied to questions sent by Indra Adhikari of Nepalnews regarding his efforts to make Nepali language included in yet another university in the US. Excerpts:

Could you describe briefly efforts you made to include Nepali in the curriculum of NCSU and their responses?
In 1987, to support my graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I taught Hindi-Urdu at Duke University. Since that time I have had a strong desire to start a Nepali class in American Universities. The recently established North Carolina Center for South Asian Studies—a consortium of North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Duke University—provided several opportunities for Nepal related activities. Occasionally, people would show interest in learning Nepali but there were no provisions for it. Just a few years ago, the Center initiated three new courses in languages of South Asia, and Nepali was not among them. However, due to some reasons, one of the courses could not be started.

All the professors of South Asian studies were keenly observing the recent development in Nepal. Last May, while we were on a South Asian Faculty retreat, I requested all the faculty members to include Nepal in their teaching and research agenda. It was a kind of lobbying and/or marketing for Nepal. All the professors supported the idea of adding Nepali to the center’s language offerings. It took a few weeks to meet all the academic and administrative formalities. Finally, early this month we were able to include Nepali at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of North Carolina State University. Nepali is being taught under the critical language program.

What is the status of Nepali studies in the University?
This is Elementary Nepali I with three semester credit hours. According to the university's policy, language class must meet at least two times per week. We are meeting Monday and Wednesday evenings for one hour and 15 minutes for 16 weeks. This class is categorized as undergraduate. However, high school students, graduate students and general public can take this course for credit.

In our initial survey, 23 people showed interest to register for the class. Among them almost half of the people were heritage students (from Nepali ethnic group) and spouses of Nepalis. At this moment we have three students registered and hope for about ten at the beginning of the class. Generally, five students are enough to run a critical language program. Since this is just a beginning class, we are planning to use a functional approach. For example, expression such as “I go to the university” will be taught as “ma university janchu” rather than “ma viswavidhyalaya janchu”. Being taught in the USA, we have the advantage of using English as a teaching medium and hence, we can also benefit from the grammar-translation approach.

We have state of-the-art facilities in the classroom. We will integrate computer programs, Nepali fonts, email, and related websites. Moreover, folksong and dances will also be used to make the class enjoyable.

Are people showing interest in your efforts?
Many Americans think Nepal as an exotic place and like to go there. Moreover, recent events of Nepal haves also increased interest among human right activists, feminists, social scientists, development experts and so on, on Nepal. Some of them would even like to learn Nepali.

The Nepali diaspora is delighted by the news. We have received dozens of phone calls, emails, and letters form individuals and organizations, especially from the members of Nepalese Americas Council (NAC), International Nepali Literary Society (INLS), Association of Nepalis in the Americas (ANA), the Association of Nepalese in Midwest America (ANMA), the Nepalese Association of South-East America (NASeA), Nepal Center of North Carolina (NCNC) and others. Some of the generous Nepalis are thinking to establish scholarship funds. All these are blessings to us, and we are motivated to work harder.

What impact can you predict in North Carolina from the inclusion of Nepali in the university curriculum? Will it help in the promotion of Nepali language and literature in the USA?
Personally, inclusion of Nepali language in the university curriculum can be interpreted as a recognition of Nepali as a dignified community. We are about 300 Nepalis in the city and now we have Nepali program in the university. There are many ethnic groups in the city, which are far greater in population size, income, and influence. Despite their perpetual endeavor, they are not successful. In this context, we should be proud of our accomplishment.

Nepali program will also provide an appropriate venue for Nepali related activities. It will certainly help in the promotion of Nepali literature in this country.

What are the components of the curriculum in the University currently and the objectives of that composition?
The Nepali language curriculum has three levels: elementary, intermediate, and advanced, each with two semesters. In other words, it is a three-year program. In the elementary level students will learn to develop basic skills of reading, writing, listening to, and speaking Nepali. This level emphasizes mastering the Devanagari script and pays considerable attention to the fundamentals of Nepali grammar. The intermediate level focuses on grammatical uses and vocabulary building. The advanced level will cover Nepali literature.

What will be your future strategies? Will courses in Nepali be expanded to other universities?
The University of North Carolina System has seventeen universities and colleges. Its teleclass (interactive television class) system links all these universities plus a few other universities including Duke. We are planning to conduct the class via teleclass. Alternatively, we are planning to develop Nepali under distance education. Then lack of local space will not be a barrier for Nepali learning.

This is not the first American university to offer Nepali language. Nepali was taught in several universities, such as University of California, University of Oregon, University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin, Columbia University, Harvard University and a few community colleges. So far I know, these days Cornell is the only university to offer Nepali on a regular basis.

However, this program is unique in that it was materialized especially due to the initiative of a faculty member who is also a native of Nepal. Moreover, it has tremendous support base among the Nepali community. Its major agenda is to support the Nepali diaspora in its language related activities. Ethnic Nepali students (heritage students) can now learn Nepali at the university and earn credit for it.

What encouraged you in this work?
I was fortunate to be associated with great figures of Nepali literature such as Lekhnath Paudyal, Balkrishna Sama, Siddhicharan Shrestha, Dharanidhar Koirala, Madhav Ghimire, Somanath Sigdyal from my early life. Their inspiring personalities, my academic training, profession, and passion encouraged me to become a literary activist.

What do you expect from the Nepal Government and the Nepali scholars and writers?
We have not formally requested support from the Government of Nepal. We hope in the future we will get some assistance in Nepali educational materials. We are confident that the class will generate Nepali goodwill ambassadors who will guard and promote the interests of Nepal in the USA. We are well aware of the Nepali scholars’ socio-economic situation. We will try to collect books for the program from our own resources. The autographed books from the Nepali writers will make our library into a valuable archive of Nepali literature. We need their support for success

Source: Nepalnews.com