STARTALK July 2009
Hindi and Urdu summer program for teachers and students
Programs contingent on funding

Hindi & Urdu Teacher Program
Program contingent on funding
1. Program Duration: July 12th-24th, 2009
2. Registration fee: $25
3. Stipend paid to teachers: $1,000 on completing the entire program
4. Eligibility criteria: Applicants must be either US citizens or US permanent residents
5. Non-residential program. However, the Center can assist with finding residential arrangements for those who request it.
6. Program will offer holistic training in language pedagogy that incorporates best practices, standards-based instruction and assessment, and structural analysis of Hindi and Urdu. Candidates will receive Hindi/Urdu instruction packet containing various teaching materials (textbooks, dvds, sample lesson plans, curriculum templates, etc.).
7. Continuing Education Credit: The program will offer 1CU (equivalent to three semester hours) of graduate continuing education credit from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania for interested participants. The cost is $500.
8.Our contact information: www.southasiacenter.upenn.edu; Haimanti Banerjee <haimanti@sas.upenn.edu>
9. The program has places for twenty teachers of Hindi and Urdu combined.
10.  Application deadline: March 1st, 2009: Application information and submission details will be available online at www.southasiacenter.upenn.edu by January 15th, 2009.
Poster for Hindi & Urdu teacher program

Hindi and Urdu Student Program:
Learning Language through the Arts
Program contingent on funding
1. Program duration: July 5th- 24th, 2009
2. Registration fee: $100. This fee will be refunded on completion of the program without any absences.
3. Program fee: $800
4.  Scholarship: Each student will be granted a $500 scholarship towards the $800 program fee, so that final cost to each student will be $300. Need-based full scholarships will be available.
5. Two separate programs have places for twenty learners of Hindi and twenty learners of Urdu. Previous exposure to Hindi or Urdu is not a pre-requisite for this program. Applications are invited from students from grades 9th-12th. 
6. These programs will run on week days from July 6th -24th from 9am – 4pm, with an orientation session held on Sunday, July 5th. During this time learners will receive formal instruction and will have opportunities to explore language and culture through the arts. Lunch and snacks will be provided during the day.  Supervised arrangements can be made upon request for students to remain on campus till 6pm if awaiting pick-up.
7. This program will allow students to learn the Hindi and Urdu languages through exploring the arts of South Asia, including cinema and the visual and performing arts.  There will be separate tracks to address the needs of the learners based on their cognitive and linguistic abilities.  This enrichment program will raise the linguistic skills of the learners while simultaneously promoting their interest in the language and cultures of South Asia.
 8. On completion of the program, students will be awarded a certificate of completion from the University of Pennsylvania’s South Asia Center and receive a learning packet containing Hindi/Urdu learning materials which will aid further self-study.
9. Our contact information: www.southasiacenter.upenn.edu; Haimanti Banerjee <haimanti@sas.upenn.edu>
10. Application deadline: March 1st, 2009; Application information and submission details will be available online at www.southasiacenter.upenn.edu by January 15th, 2009.
Poster for Hindi and Urdu student program


STARTALK Banquet and Reception
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The South Asia Center hosted a banquet and reception where information on it's proposed STARTALK programs for teachers and students was distributed to invited guests. It was a forum to share ideas and needs about the programs with personnel from high schools, school districts and the general community. It was successful in generating an informative discussion and in excting an interest in the possible introduction of these languages in some schools.
Agenda for the evening
6:00 PM          Beverages and hors d'oeuvres with live performance of Indian classical music by Penn Sargam
6:30 PM           Welcome and Introductions
1.      Welcome by Kathleen D. Hall, Director of the South Asia Center and Associate Professor of Education and Anthropology, and Michael Meister, Chair, Department of South Asia Studies and W. Norman Brown Professor in South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania
2.      Remarks by Linda P. Chen, Deputy of Teaching and Learning, School District of Philadelphia
3.      "Hindi and Urdu Languages in a Global Context", Surendra Gambhir, Adjunct Associate Professor of Hindi, Department of South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
4.      Introduction to the STARTALK program by Catherine Ingold, Director of the National Foreign Language Center
5.      "Introducing Hindi and Urdu in Your School District": Briefing by Martin J. Smith, Supervisor of World Languages and ESL, Edison Township (New Jersey) Public Schools   (STARTALK 2008 grant recipient)
7:00 PM           Indian Buffet Dinner
7:30 PM           Discussion with school and community leaders
8:00 PM           Closing Remarks and Information Handouts, Rubab Qureshi, Urdu Lecturer, Department of South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania