Beginning in Fall 2025, Claremont School of Theology (CST) will offer a new research-oriented graduate seminar in Modern Gujarati developed in collaboration with Arihanta Institute. As the first in a two-semester sequence, the course will be taught by Dr. Cogen Bohanec (Arihanta Institute)—serving as Adjunct Faculty at CST—alongside Dr. Venu Mehta, the Bhagwan Chandraprabha Endowed Assistant Professor in Jain Studies at CST and a native Gujarati speaker and specialist. The curriculum builds the linguistic competencies needed to engage the rich corpus of Gujarati literature, especially for students and emerging scholars in Jain Studies and related South Asian fields.

 

Students will build the skills and confidence to engage a wide range of literary genres including Gujarati commentaries on Sanskrit and Prakrit sources, philosophical treatises, devotional poetry, and writings from modern reform and lay movements (including those of Śrīmad Rājcandra, the Swaminarayan Sampradāya, Jain lay thinkers and activists, and other public intellectuals)—as well as the political, spiritual, and linguistic contributions of Mahatma Gandhi.

The expertise developed in this course equips students with the methodological competencies required to produce rigorous, widely respected scholarship. As training in modern South Asian vernaculars grows ever more valued—and remains scarce at many institutions—this comprehensive, research-oriented instruction in Modern Gujarati fills a critical gap. Offered fully online by CST the course is accessible to students in Jain Studies, South Asian Studies, and allied fields. 

As a research-oriented course, we adopt a linguistic approach that emphasizes grammar, morphology, syntax, vocabulary building, idioms, and usage conventions. By the end of the two-semester sequence, students will command all major Gujarati grammatical forms, parse complex syntax, and maintain a substantial working vocabulary with familiarity in common idioms.

 

Coursework includes translating adapted (paraphrased) passages from key Gujarati texts across the genres noted above. Translation work is paired with seminar discussions that situate readings in their literary, historical, and intellectual contexts—introducing students to influential Gujarati thinkers and to the cultural and philosophical traditions that shape their writing. Because language study is inseparable from cultural inquiry, the course invites students to examine their own philosophical and cultural assumptions and to broaden their worldview in a deeply enriching way.

While speaking conversational Gujarati is not the focus, the course builds the grammatical, morphological, and syntactic foundation that makes speaking far easier once core structures are mastered. Language training is cumulative: solid command of grammar precedes fluency. This sequence provides that foundation with a primary aim of preparing students for advanced textual research.

 

A further motivation to study Gujarati is its value for South Asian linguistics. Students will gain familiarity with typological features common across the region and develop skills transferable to related languages such as Hindi, Rajasthani, Marathi, and Bengali. With this grounding, acquiring additional South Asian languages becomes markedly easier, and students are positioned to produce rigorous scholarship within and beyond the Gujarati tradition.

 

At a time when many traditional teachings are at risk, scholars of South Asian languages serve as stewards of cultural and intellectual heritage. Learning Gujarati equips students not only for high-level academic work but also for meaningful personal growth and informed engagement with contemporary society.

 

To register for credit or as an auditing student, please email: study@arihantainstitute.org.