The Hindi Urdu Flagship at the University of Texas at Austin is designed to produce students who combine professional language proficiency in Hindi and Urdu with various major fields of study. Hindi and Urdu differ little in the informal spoken form, but all Flagship students learn Hindi and Urdu in separate classes, due to the differences in educated vocabulary, writing systems, and cultural and literary traditions. A major function of Flagship is to enhance the teaching of Hindi and Urdu by preparing teaching materials of various kinds and making them available on the Hindi Urdu Flagship website. Flagship also sponsors and supports many activities related to Hindi and Urdu, such as lectures, performances, and cultural events.
The Hindi Urdu Flagship is a four-year undergraduate program that differs from other language programs in four areas. The first is the number of hours of language study (10 credit-hours in the first year and 9 credit-hours in the second year, mostly at the advanced level). The second is a language immersion during the overseas component in the third year to be held in Jaipur and Lucknow, India. Thirdly, Flagship students have access to Hindi or Urdu language component within the Faculty Area Content Courses. Lastly, Flagship students have access to extensive tutorial attention.
The Flagship is open to students with strong interest in South Asia and some knowledge of spoken Hindi or Urdu. Students with high language aptitude who do not have prior knowledge of Hindi or Urdu can take an intensive course in the summer to prepare for Flagship work in the following academic year. Students entering the Flagship major in a variety of subjects in the fields of Liberal Arts, Engineering, Radio Television Film, Business, or various pre-medicine fields. After completing the program, they may work for the U.S. government, non-government organizations, or in various medical fields. Some will go to graduate school, where they can combine their study in a major field with their Hindi and Urdu language proficiency.
Contact: Ms. Sarah Houston Green at svhgreen@mail.utexas.edu
http://www.hindiurduflagship.org/