Harvard University will offer Tagalog courses starting Academic Year 2023 - 2024, the first time it will teach the language at the University.
In a news release by the student publication Harvard Crimson on Friday, it said that Harvard's Department of South Asian Studies is set to hire an instructor who will teach Tagalog as well as two other instructors who will teach Bahasa Indonesian and Thai languages.
"While Thai and Indonesian are currently taught at Harvard, no courses are offered in Tagalog, the fourth most spoken language in the United States," Harvard Crimson stated.
Citing information from Harvard's Executive Director Elizabeth Liao, the student publication said the university's Asia Center had "secured financial support" through fundraising efforts to fund the three teaching positions.
“We’re very excited and hopeful that these positions will be a game-changer in terms of the Asia Center’s long-term mission to build Southeast Asian studies at Harvard, as well as the university’s engagement with the region,” Liao said as quoted by Harvard Crimson.
According to the student publication, Asia Center's director James Robson said $1 million were raised to fund the Tagalog instructor.
"However, he added that funding the position after three years would be probably not entirely sustainable," it said.
