SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Department of Philosophy, Linguistics, and Theory of Science (FLoV),
University of Gothenburg

Postal address: Institutionen för filosofi, lingvistik och vetenskapsteori, Box 200, SE 405 30 Göteborg
Visiting address: Olof Wijksgatan 6
Web page: http://www.flov.gu.se/english/

In 2009, the Department of Linguistics merged with the Departments of Philosophy, Theory of Science and the interdisciplinary center SCCIIL and a new academic entity was created, called PLaS or in Swedish FLoV.

Research connected to South Asia:

SCCIIL Interdisciplinary Center

SCCIIL (or in Swedish SSKKII) is a center for interdisciplinary research in the intersection of the concepts Language, Semantics, Cognition, Communication, Information and Interaction.

Contact person: Professor Emeritus Jens Allwood, phone: +46 (0)31 786 1876

Prof. Jens Allwood established the Dept. of Linguistics at University of Gothenburg in 1983. Lately he became Chairman for SCCIIL. In 2009, both the Dept. of Lingusitics and SCCIIL were integrated in the new FLoV department.
In November 2008, Prof. Allwood received SEK 600 000 as a three years grant for the period 2009-11 from the Swedish Research Links programme (funded by Sida and the Swedish Research Council) for an project titled ”Contributions to the "Linguistic Survey of Nepal" – work on Lohorung and Nepali spoken language”. More information on the Swedish Research Links grants 2008.
The project concerns Lohorung which is a minority Sino-Tibetan language on the verge of extinction. It is spoken in eastern Nepal by the Lohorung Rai people. Being a severely endangered language, Lohorung needs to be documented. The documentation to be done now is not meant only for preservation (in archives) but also for revitalization and development. However, a precondition of such a development, is that there needs to be a documentation project as soon as possible.
The project has the following specific objectives:

• To develop a corpus for the Lohorung language based on some main social activities
• To carry out linguistic and cultural studies on the basis of the corpus and to develop linguistic and cultural resources such as a lexicon, a sketch grammar, a cultural and ethnographic profile etc.
• To develop an orthography and educational materials using spoken language and graphics

The project is envisaged to have a duration of three years tentatively – one year for data collection, one year for analysis and for producing linguistic materials and one year for preparing spoken, graphical and written educational materials.
We are currently applying for a planning grant in order to prepare a more detailed application and plan of work, as well as for writing an overview, providing a feasibility study of the tasks proposed in the project.
The collaboration partner partner on the Nepalese side is Dr. Yogendra Yadava at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.

In August 2008, the department organised the 14th Himalayan Languages Symposium (HLS). The bi-annual Himalayan Languages Symposia brings together scholars working on languages and language communities of the greater Himalayan region: north-western and north-eastern India, Nepal, Bhutan and the Tibetan Plateau, northern Burma and Sichuan, and Nuristan, Baltistan and the Burushaski-speaking area in the west. Scott DeLancey from the University of Oregon, USA, was the keynote speaker.

Theory of Science

Contact person: Professor Emeritus Jan Bärmark, phone: +46 (0)31 786 4916

Jan Bärmark was previously Professor at the Dept. of Theory of Science. Since 2009, the subject is integrated in the new FLoV department.
His research has focused on Tibetan Medicine from the perspective of Anthropology of knowledge, and its relation to Buddhist religion. Jan Bärmark has carried out field work in Bhutan, Ladakh and Tibet.

Prof. Bärmark is a member of a Nepal related international project initiated by University of Gothenburg in November 2010, as part of a long-term ambition to create a profile as ‘The Global University’, based on the university’s action plan for internationalisation 2008-2012. More information on The Global University.
It is a collaboration project with three partner universities in Nepal – Kathmandu University, Tribhuvan University, and Patan Academy of Health Sciences. The project is entitled ”Collaboration between GU and Nepali Institutions: Strengthening Health Education, Supporting Research, Monitoring Health”. It is based on previous Linnaeus Palme exchange programme experiences with Tribhuvan University, but seeks to include additional Nepali institutions and programmes for both education and research.
The project is headed by Dr. Alexandra Krettek, researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy and the Nordic School of Public Health (NHV) in Gothenburg. Other project members are Associate Professor Göran Kurlberg and Professor Göran Bondjers at the Sahlgrenska Academy; Associate Professor Ulla-Britt Engelbrektsson and PhD candidate Susanne Åsman, Social Anthropology, School of Global Studies; and Lecturer Jonas Öberg, Dept. of Applied IT.
More information about the Nepal collaboration project.