TIBET 2202 - Intermediate Classical Tibetan II

(GB) Satisfies Option 1. (EC-SAP)

Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only (no audit).

Prerequisite: TIBET 2201 or equivalent. This course is part of the Shared Course Initiative and will be taught from Columbia University using videoconferencing technology.

S. Tsering Ngulphu.

This two-semester class is designed to assist students who already have the equivalent of at least one year of Tibetan language study. The course is intended to build on this foundation so that students gain greater proficiency in reading a variety of classical Tibetan writing styles and genres, including (especially in the second semester) texts relevant to their research.

In this second semester, these skills will be applied in more extensive readings in literary, religious and historical sources. We will explore various genres: poetry (snyan ngag), biographies (rnam thar), avadanas (rtogs brjod), religious histories (chos ‘byung), administrative documents (gzhung yig), epistolary writings (e.g. chab-shog), canonical texts (sutras), religious songs (mgur), etc.; as well as calligraphic-styles, manuscripts, scrolls etc. Students will also gain facility in the use of Tibetan-Tibetan dictionaries essential for reading classical texts, in particular for the use of the kavya-derived ornamental vocabulary and rhetorical devices.