U. hires Sanskrit lecturer

The University has hired Nataliya Yanchevskaya, an adjunct lecturer at Moravian College, to teach Sanskrit in the fall.

The main qualification for the position was a very high level of training in the Sanskrit language, Jonathan Gold, chair of the search committee and professor of religion, said. However, the committee was looking for someone to teach not only the grammar and history of the Sanskrit language but also the wide range of literature available, Gold added.

Yanchevskaya has taught Sanskrit at Harvard and Brown. She has worked on Vedic and Classical Sanskrit grammar, religion and philosophy with a focus on comparative mythology, according to the Office of the Registrar.

Yanchevskaya was not available for comment by press time, as she said she is traveling abroad.

Yanchevskaya, who is also fluent in Russian, is trained in a wide range of Sanskrit literature and has an interest in teaching Sanskrit poetry and poetics, Gold said.

The applicant pool was fairly large with 50-70 applicants from Europe, India and the United States, Gold said. From those who applied for the position, a small pool of excellent candidates were invited to campus.

When visiting the University, Yanchevskaya gave a sample lesson.

She began the class with a beginner topic, Sandhi, which comprises the rules of how vowels change in relation to other letters in a word, according to Vidushi Sharma ’17, who was invited to attend the lesson.

Sharma said she thought this was an appropriate topic given that the room had people with differing levels of exposure to the language.

Throughout the class, Sharma said Yanchevskaya spontaneously spoke a few Sanskrit sentences about University life, which those present said they enjoyed.

“She also sang a few lines from the Bhagavad Gita at the end of class to show the intonation and metrical progression that a Hindu pundit [priest] would use,” Sharma said. “At the end of the class, she showed us examples of Sanskrit in real literature and gave us excerpts from real texts.”

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Naomi Lee ’15, an independent concentrator studying linguistics, also attended the sample class to see Yanchevskaya’s teaching style and said that Yanchevskaya’s organization and handle on the subject matter was impressive.

Yanchevskaya is an excellent teacher who stood out amongst the people interviewed and considered, Gold said.

“She is very personable and very fluid in her ability to interact with students,” Gold said.

In September, Sharma circulated a petition for a Sanskrit language program at the University.

“The show of support from students across various departments affirmed to me that people do believe Sanskrit is a fundamental language to have in terms of studying classics, linguistics, philosophy and religion,” Sharma said.

Spencer Chen ’16, a comparative literature major who was one of the supporters of Sharma’s petition for Sanskrit last fall, said he wanted to take Sanskrit because he thinks that it is an important literary language.

“In general I feel that there is not enough focus on non-Western languages,” Chen said. “Languages such as Chinese and Arabic will be important because of [their] political importance.”

Looking forward, Gold said he is hopeful for the future and that one of the main considerations for the program will be enrollment.

“It is exciting to know that Princeton has taken this step in adding Sanskrit as well as acknowledging and moving forward with a commitment to the importance of South Asian Studies," Gold said.

Sanskrit classes will fulfill the University’s foreign language requirement. SAN 101: Elementary Sanskrit and SAN 105: Intermediate Sanskrit will be offered in the fall.