Sunday, May 08, 2005

appeal to keep sanskrit program alive at florida int'l univ

May 7th

i have had some email correspondence with prof katz in the past. he spent some time in india researching the cochin jews, and has written extensively about the fact that india has been very tolerant of jews (in fact it is the only country in 148 nations where jews live that they have not been oppressed).

please contribute to keeping this program alive. it is not even a huge sum. yes, i am sending a check myself.

====================

From: katzn@fiu.edu [Prof. Nathan Katz]
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 11:15 AM
To: [....]
Cc: [...]
Subject: Is Sanskrit a dead language?

Dear Friends,

Is Sanskrit a dead language? Unless someone steps up to the plate, it is as
far as FIU is concerned.

We were able to work out a cooperative arrangement with Hindu University of
America to offer two years of Sanskrit online. The program is excellent in
my opinion, and the first year is up and running, and the second year is
ready to go.

Our arrangement requires a modest buy-in from the community of three
thousand dollars per year. We received a pledge of support from community
leaders. Under this arrangement, FIU carries the lion's share of the costs.

Unfortunately, the pledge has not been redeemed, and as FIU has to watch
costs so closely these days, this excellent program is about to be
cancelled.

This would be very unfortunate, as Sanskrit online benefits FIU, the local
Indian American community, as well as students and scholars globally.

This is the very last chance to save Sanskrit at FIU. We need the $3000
immediately.

Thank you for your consideration,
Nathan Katz

Nathan Katz
Professor of Religious Studies
Florida International University
Miami FL 33199
tel.: 305-348-3909
fax: 305-348-1879

Who Are the Jews of India? <http://www.khazaria.com/katz.html>
http://www.khazaria.com/katz.html
Journal of Indo-Judaic Studies: <http://www.usask.ca/relst/jijs.htm>
http://www.usask.ca/relst/jijs.htm
Center for the Study of Spirituality:
<http://cas.fiu.edu/SpiritualityCenter>
http://cas.fiu.edu/SpiritualityCenter
Web page: <http://www.indojudaic.com> http://www.indojudaic.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dude... heads up wrt Bangladesh.

They dont have to put a ban on generic Drug manufacture until 2016, so they can be super rich by just exporting all those copy caat stuff which India no longer permits. Maybe an article on that?