International Hindi Conference scheduled for October in New York

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The Consulate General of India, New York plans to host a two-day International Hindi Conference, on October 20 and 21, 2023.

The conference is being organized by Hindi Sangam Foundation, a New Jersey-based non-profit established in 2015 with the goal of promoting Hindi in USA and beyond, in collaboration with New York University, and a number of US based community and cultural organizations.

India’s Consul-General in New York Randhir Jaiswal, and Anil Joshi, vice president, Kendriya Hindi Shikshan Mandal, a Government of India Ministry of Education owned organization dedicated to promotion of Hindi, have been designated as Advisors of the conference, according to a press release May 29.

An academic committee headed by Prof Gabriela Nik Ilieva, New York University, has been formed to scrutinize research documents for presentation at the conference.  The conference is coordinated by Ashok Ojha, president, Hindi Sangam Foundation along with Suman Singh, the Indian Consulate’s head of Chancery in New York.

Upendra Chivukula, chairman, Yuva Hindi Sansthan in NJ, and Purnima Desai, who also heads two New York-based cultural organizations, Shikshayatan and Sriniketan Foundation, are prominent members of the organizing committee of the conference.

In the past Hindi Sangam Foundation collaborated with the Consulate General of India, New York (2016), as well as several universities, such as New York University (2014), Columbia University, Rutgers (2014) and GITAM, Visakhapatnam, India (2017) to organize much needed onsite International Hindi Conferences, the press release said. They served as fora for sharing research, discussing success stories as well as challenges in the Hindi teaching and learning around the world, it added. Hindi professionals and experts from Europe, Asia, the United States, etc. participated in these conferences(https://21stcenturyhindi.com/ihc-homebase)

The conference theme, “Innovations in Hindi Instruction-Methodology, Technology and More”, focuses on latest researches in heritage language teaching”, Ojha is quoted saying in the press release. “The goal of the forthcoming Hindi Conference, hosted by the Consulate General of India, is to provide a forum for Hindi professionals, engaged in teaching Hindi from Kindergarten to College levels, around the world, to present and discuss innovative researches in technology and methodology in the field of Hindi education out of India. It will not only further Hindi language teaching outside of the Hindi belt in India and in the Diaspora, but it will also contribute to understanding wider questions of teaching and learning in complex socio-linguistic contexts and emerging new environments.”

Among those who have already agreed to support and participate in the conference are- Prof Rajiv Ranjan, Michigan State University, Prof Kusum Knacpczyk, Duke University, Prof Elliott McCarter, Vanderbilt University, Dr. Madhuri Ramdhari, Secretary General, World Hindi Secretariat, Mauritius, Prof Usha Sinha, B P Mandal University, Bihar, Prof Priyanka Dey, Vivekanand University, Kolkata, Prof Pritesh Chakraborty, Acharya Sukumar Sen College, Gotan, West Bengal, Prof Randhir Singh, Dyal Singh College, Karnal, Haryana, and more.

The two-day conference includes eight academic sessions/panel discussions on a variety of topics related to the overarching theme of ‘Innovation in Hindi Instruction in the Diaspora’,  a pre-conference academic session, Kavi-Sammelan and networking.

Hindi Sangam Foundation said it will maintain a dedicated website for publication of conference related content including research papers, time table and other relevant information.

For more information contact Ashok Ojha, coordinator, at aojha2008@gmail.com