Via Divya Chaudhry

Dear SALTA Colleagues, 
Please join us for a 6-week (free) workshop on learning to read and write in Urdu script, Nastaliq. The workshop offered by Dr. Sunil Bhatt will take place on Zoom on Fridays from 1-2 pm CST. First session will take place on Friday, September 24, 2021. No prior background in Nastaliq is required. Knowledge of Devanagari script is expected. 
Please fill this form to complete your registration for the workshop: https://forms.gle/cXKDcqmqjwxgeWgZA
If you have any questions about the course, please email one or more of the following: 

• Workshop leader- Dr. Sunil Bhatt (sunil.bhatt@ubc.ca), 
• SALTA Urdu Study Group Facilitator- Ritu Jayakar (rkj1@psu.edu), 

For any other questions about SALTA events, please email SALTA Director of Research, Dr. Divya Chaudhry at divya.chaudhry@Vanderbilt.Edu . 
Check out current SALTA events at: https://mysalta.org/groups-and-events/ .

Via Divya Chaudhry

I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe during the recent surge of Covid cases. As everyone returns to classrooms (virtually or in-person), you will notice some changes in the SALTA event offering and schedule (marked in red).  I want to express my gratitude to Sai , David, Shilpa, Rajiv ji, and Ritu ji for hosting events through the summer so SALTA community could have opportunities to engage beyond the annual conference. I also want to thank all members who attended the events and contributed to the conversation. 

This week’s schedule is given below. A complete calendar of events is also available at the SALTA website: https://mysalta.org/groups-and-events/ . Clicking on the event on the calendar will provide meeting links and any additional meeting information. 

Tuesday, 8-24 1100-1300 CST 1200-1400 EST	Weekly Co-Writing Hour* (led by Divya Chaudhry)	Zoom Meeting Link	Co-writing hour : Guidelines & Structure
Wednesday, 8-25 1530-1730 CST 1630-1830 EST	Weekly Co-Writing Hour (led by Sai Bhatawadekar and David Flaherty)	Zoom Meeting Link
Friday , 8-27 1100 -1200 CST 1200-1300 EST	Weekly Urdu study group (led by Ritu Jayakar)	Google Meet  Link	Urdu Resources Google Drive Folder

*Tuesday’s co-writing hour will be used as a SALTA Conference Recap watch party. If you missed a conference session or would like to just refresh your memory, please join me during the co-writing hour tomorrow between 11 am-1 pm CST. 

Fall Offerings: 

1. Co-writing hour (Divya) , Mondays 5.30 -6.30 pm CST 
2. Co-writing hour (Sai & David), Wednesdays 3.30- 5.30 pm CST
3. Urdu study group (Ritu ji and Sunil ji), Friday 1- 2 pm CST starting Sept 23
   
   

Best wishes for the new semester! 

Divya 

The Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington invites applications for a part-time temporary lecturer in Telugu.

More information and application instructions below, in the attached PDF, and at this post: https://jsis.washington.edu/southasia/news/uw-job-part-time-telugu-instructor/

Please direct any questions to Prof. Jameel Ahmad, jameel7@uw.edu. Please note the instructor must be legally authorized to work in the US and must be physically present in the country.

Seeking a Telugu Instructor Department of Asian Languages and Literature University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195

The Department of Asian Languages and Literature, University of Washington, Seattle, invites applications for a part-time, temporary lecturer to teach one course, most likely, ‘Elementary Telugu’ in Winter Quarter (January–March 2022) and a second course, most likely in continuation of the Elementary Telugu sequence, in Spring Quarter (March–June 2022). Teaching duties will be carried out remotely and, therefore, will not require physical presence in the Seattle area. The instructor must be legally authorized to work in the US and must be physically present in the country.

Applicants are expected to have a high level of proficiency in Telugu, experience of teaching the language at the college level, and the creativity, willingness, and ability to adjust course content to meet the needs of interested students. Specific course offerings may change, in consultation with faculty in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature and in the South Asian Studies Program at the University of Washington.

Application Instructions

To apply, submit the following by email to Prof. Jameel Ahmad, jameel7@uw.edu:

·  1-2-page single space cover letter that addresses relevant experience and qualifications

·  curriculum vitae, including the names of two potential recommenders (we are not soliciting recommendation letters at this point)

·  1-page statement of teaching philosophy

·  1 sample undergraduate course syllabus or Elementary/Intermediate level of Telugu language course syllabus

If you have questions about the position, the status of the opening, or disability accommodations, please contact the chair of the search committee Prof. Jameel Ahmad (jameel7@uw.edu). Priority will be given to applications received by the deadline of October 1, 2021.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, gender identity or expression, age, disability, or protected veteran status.

Commitment to Diversity

The University of Washington is committed to building diversity among its faculty, librarian, staff, and student communities, and articulates that commitment in the UW Diversity Blueprint (http://www.washington.edu/diversity/diversity-blueprint/). Additionally, the University’s Faculty Code recognizes faculty efforts in research, teaching and/or service that address diversity and equal opportunity as important contributions to a faculty member’s academic profile and responsibilities (https://www.washington.edu/admin/rules/policies/FCG/FCCH24.html#2432). 

SALTA is seeking reviews to publish in its upcoming bulletin for Brajesh Samarth’s Intermediate Hindi Textbook and Easy Hindi, both published in 2018. Both texts are targeted towards English-speaking adult learners (college or above) and designed with the idea that teachers can rearrange the structure as needed. Reviewers should possess either a Ph.D. or have teaching experience in a higher education or adult learning setting. Reviewers will receive a copy of the book and a brief overview written by the author. If you are interested in writing a review, please contact president@mysalta.org

via Sarvari Dixit

I am looking for a ‘Feedback For Writing Loop’. It really does not need to be a group as long as it is a couple of people with whom we can loop.

I have a piece of writing that I want spell checked and will have more. A pair of editorial eyes would be useful. I would like one or two people who may be able to edit and provide feedback. I would do the same, obviously not for spellings, unless I get better at them.

I would also like to offer to write short paragraphs and create worksheets in Hindi or English if anyone needs those.

My area of work is in Psychology especially in Learning Abilities. I have recently retired but want to keep working in similar fields and create publishable or published materials for future use.

For interest please contact Elliott McCarter (e.c.mccarter@vanderbilt.edu) and he will get you in touch.

via Divya Chaudhry

Here is the schedule for this week’s SALTA research group. Can’t believe it is August already! Hope you are savoring the last bit of the summer before another school year begins. 

A complete calendar of events is also available at the SALTA website: https://mysalta.org/groups-and-events/ . Clicking on the event on the calendar will provide meeting links and any additional meeting information. 

Schedule for the Week of Aug 2, 2021: 

Tuesday, 8-3 1100-1300 CST 1200-1400 EST	Weekly Co-Writing Hour (led by Divya Chaudhry)	Zoom Meeting Link	Co-writing hour : Guidelines & Structure
Wednesday, 8-4 1500-1600 CST 1600-1700 EST	Weekly Co-Writing Hour (led by Sai Bhatawadekar)	Zoom Meeting Link
Friday, 8-6 1000 -1100 CST 1100-1200 EST	Fortnightly SLA Reading Group (led by Rajiv Ranjan)	Zoom Meeting Link	Schedule and Selection of Readings
Friday , 8-6 1100 -1200 CST 1200-1300 EST	Weekly Urdu study group (led by Ritu Jayakar)	Google Meet  Link	Urdu Resources Google Drive Folder

Hope to see you at one of the events! 

Best,

Divya 

(via Shilpa Parnami) Dear Friends and Colleagues, I am excited to share that we are starting a new, virtual Teaching Learning Group at SALTA from tomorrow. The group is an attempt to continue to build and expand our current community of learning and practice and create opportunities to learn with and from each other. The group is for any pre-service or experienced K-16 South Asian language teacher looking to engage with current developments in second language acquisition theories and their implications for classroom teaching. We will mainly explore teacher-training and professional development resources such as scholarly talks, webinars, research presentations etc. and discuss strategies and workshop ideas for classroom implementation. The first session, July 14 will focus on teaching non-Roman scripts. The Zoom link for our meeting is included on this events calendar https://mysalta.org/groups-and-events/. I hope you will consider joining us and sharing your questions, ideas, expertise and any helpful resources with your colleagues. Please feel free to email me sparnami@bu.edu if you have any questions or suggestions.

Meeting Information Link: https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/99671572485…

Passcode: SALTA2021

– This organization is seeking to be more diverse and inclusive and also has a focus on Heritage Programs. If your program is in the Rhode Island area (I assume this means Mass, Conn, etc.) consider this.

(via Kristin Archambault: RIFLA)

We are hosting a virtual conference on Saturday, October 2, and is are actively looking for presenters.  We have five strands: Intercultural Competency, Technology, Social Justice/Equity, Heritage Programs, and Comprehensible Input/Proficiency-based instruction. 

We welcome proposals from anyone, but we would especially like to offer presentations from a more diverse group of teachers (BIPOC/LGBTQ+) and we are also looking for more presentations that focus on teaching Chinese.

Information about our conference is on our website (www.rifla.org) in the turquoise box. Presenters are not compensated but can attend the conference for free and will have access to all sessions. 

Deadline for proposals is July 15, but it is fine if you submit it a little later than that. Please reach out if you have questions.

(via Imre Bangha and Gyanam Mahajan)

This year’s summer Early Hindi Workshop (the eighth since 2021) will be held online between 12 and 24 July 2021, with one 90-minute reading session each working day (Monday to Saturday) followed by a 30-minute discussion.

As in previous workshops, we are going to read and discuss texts on which a particular academic is working. Academics and students with a solid foundation in Brajbhasha or another form of early Hindi, and familiarity with essential grammatical terminology in English or Hindi, are welcome to join. The workshop will be bilingual – participants are welcome to converse in both Hindi and English; of course, this means that participants are expected to understand academic conversation in both languages, and speakers are asked to speak clearly.

Texts to be read and discussed this time come from the borderlands of Hindi, namely from Panjab, Rajasthan and eastern India. They have been produced in a variety of literary idioms, such as Rajasthani (Marwari), Sant Bhasha (Sadhukkari), Maithili/Brajabuli and Panjabi. Although most of them are now considered as early versions of distinct modern languages, they were to a large extent mutually comprehensible, so much so that at some point of time most of them came to be associated with Hindi.

As last year, it will be open both to auditors who would simply like to listen in without participating and reading participants. Our website is now live, so if you are interested please take a look (you can find the dates, eligibility criteria, and the application form on the site): Eighth Workshop – Online! – Early Hindi & Brajbhasha Workshop (wordpress.com). To apply, please return your application form to earlyhindi2021@gmail.com by 4 July.
If you have any questions, please write to earlyhindi2021@gmail.com.

(via Kusum Knapczyk and Rajni Bhargava) The World Hindi Secretariat is making a world database to gather information about the universities that teach the Hindi language, literature, and culture outside of India. This information will be made available on the website of the “World Hindi Secretariat” (www.vishwahindi.com). If you are a Hindi instructor, please fill this form with as much detail as possible. It will not take you more than 10 minutes of your time but it will be a tremendous help for us. This database is also one which SALTA uses as a cross reference.

Please note that we only need one form for each college/university/institution so you may want to coordinate with other colleagues. If you teach other languages you can forward this email to your Hindi colleagues or fill this form on their behalf.

Your contributions are valuable to the global Hindi field.

Here is the form https://forms.gle/HbsLHPURU8xKMnrp6