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Summary
No. of sessions: 3
Dates: 12th to 14th December 2024
Timings: 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I.S.T.
Fees: ₹ 1500/-
Principal Teacher: Mr. Raamesh G R, Director, INSTUCEN School of Languages and Literature
Medium: English

About the Course:
This talk offers a comprehensive overview of Central Asia's languages and scripts, tracing their evolution from prehistory to the present day. Central Asia, with its diverse ethnic and cultural tapestry, has long been a crossroads of human migration, deeply shaping its linguistic landscape. From the earliest Turkic and Indo-Iranian languages to later Arabic, Persian, and Russian influences, the region’s languages reflect centuries of cultural exchange, political shifts, and population movements.

The discussion will explore the historical development of Central Asian scripts, including ancient forms like the Brahmi, Aramaic, and Sogdian scripts, alongside more recent adaptations such as Arabic, Cyrillic, and Latin alphabets. Attention will be given to how migration waves—from early nomadic tribes to the Mongol expansion and the Soviet Union’s influence—have affected linguistic choices, script adoption, and the political regulation of languages.

Furthermore, the talk will highlight contemporary language politics, particularly how state policies have influenced language use, education, and script reformations. These policies have sometimes fostered cultural identity, but they have also led to the endangerment or disappearance of certain languages and scripts. Special focus will be given to endangered languages and efforts to preserve them, examining how globalization and political decisions continue to impact linguistic diversity in the region.

Through this survey, attendees will gain insight into the complex interplay between language, migration, and politics in Central Asia. This understanding underscores the importance of preserving linguistic diversity in an era of rapid change, reminding us of the cultural and historical wealth embodied in Central Asia’s languages and scripts.

About the Resource Person
Raamesh Gowri Raghavan is the Director of the INSTUCEN Trust School of Languages and Literature, Mumbai. His literary publications include poems, short stories, haiku, and haibun in several magazines and anthologies. He organized "Distilled Images", a national conference on haikai literature in India, in collaboration with SIES College in 2014.

He is also an Editorial member of Retrospect, a Sri Lanka-based peer-reviewed journal of archaeology, anthropology, history, and heritage tourism (Editor-in-Chief Prof. Anura Manatunga). His academic publications span numerical linguistics, bacterial and archaeal microflora of the Lonar crater lake, the ethnoarchaeology of the Bene Israel, ancient board games, the archaeology of ballistic weapons and fortifications, Indo-Roman trade, and Śaiva iconography. He has given talks and conducted workshops (online and offline) on maritime archaeology; archaeopaizology; sustainability of traditional Indian sciences; Vijayanagar studies; epigraphy and manuscriptology; Dravidian linguistics and poetics; evolutionary biology & genetics; and haikai literature at the University of Mumbai's Centre for Extra Mural Studies, INTACH Bangalore, KJ Somaiya Institute of Dharma Studies, Maritime Mumbai Museum Society, KJ Somaiya College, Sathaye College, Tamil Heritage Trust, Wilson College, INSTUCEN Trust, Mumbai Research Centre of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, Shri. M. D. Shah Mahila College of Arts & Commerce, and Speaking Archaeologically. He has taught archaeozoology and palaeobotany at the MA in Archaeology of the University of Mumbai.

With the INSTUCEN Trust, he organized the first National Conference on Ancient and Medieval Indian Games "Playing with the Past", sponsored by the Indian Council of Historical Research (1 & 2 June 2019). He co-wrote a column in the Marathi weekly Lokprabha on ancient games (2018-19) with Dnyaneshwari Kamath. He has also helped organize the Archaeology of Maharashtra Conferences (2015-2019) as well as Archaeobroma (2017) at the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies, including publishing their Proceedings. Currently, he is coordinating the International Diploma in Buddhist Studies at the India Study Centre (INSTUCEN) Trust, which is now in its second batch.

Important Notes
1. When you register, you will get an e-mail with a WhatsApp link. Please click on it, or copy and paste it in your browser to join the course WhatsApp group.
2. The Zoom link for the lectures will be shared in the group between 6:45 pm and 7:15 pm. If you are attending through a laptop or desktop, you do not need the Zoom app as you can attend through the web browser.
3. Please note that the lecture will start sharp at 7:30 p.m. After 7:35 p.m. no one will be allowed to enter the lecture. So be present in the lecture room at least 5 minutes earlier.
4. We follow all the precautionary measures prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs for the security of the class. Therefore, when you click on the Zoom link, you will first come into the waiting room. Our moderators will admit you to the classroom after checking your name.
5. Please enter your name in the Zoom class exactly as you have entered it on the registration form. This will ensure you are admitted without a problem.
6. Upon entering the virtual classroom, please switch off your video and microphone. This saves distraction in the classroom and also saves your valuable bandwidth.
7. Please type all your questions in the chat box only, and the speaker will answer them.
8. If you miss the lectures due to technical glitches, recordings will be provided for 48 hours.
9. No content, textual or photographic, may be copied by the audience, or screenshots taken of them. They are the exclusive copyright of the speaker.
10. A detailed bibliography will be made available.

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INSTUCEN Trust is an educational Trust and the ticket is a donation for our educational work. Please send us a request on <instucentrust@gmail.com> and we will issue a receipt with 80G number and our PAN number.