International Thirukkural Conference

July 8-10, 2005

Smith Auditorium, Howard Community College
10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD 21044 USA

To see the PowerPoint presentation about the Conference, click here

About Conference	About Tamil Language	About Thirukkural	About Thiruvalluvar
Thiruvalluvar's words of wisdom	Sponsoring Organizations	Organizing Committees	Speakers
Academic credits	Registration	Hotel Accommodation	Directions

 

Keynote Speakers

Dr. V. C. Kulandai Swamy Dr. V. C. Kulandai Swamy has kindly consented to be a keynote speaker and the Honorary Chairman for the Conference.  Dr. V. C. Kulandai Swamy received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Civil Engineering and his field of research is Hydrology. In addition to his expertise in science and engineering, he is also a well-known educationalist, former Vice Chancellor of Anna University and Indira Gandhi Open University. He is also a Tamil Scholar and a poet under the pseudonym, Kulothungan. He is a Thirukkural scholar and the author of the book "Vazhum Valluvam" for which he received the Sahitya Academy Award and later he himself translated the book into English under the title, "Immortal Kural". In this book, he looks at Thirukkural from a research and a rationalistic standpoint. This is really a thought-provoking book which is a "must read" for any one who is seriously interested in Thirukkural.

Dr. George Hart The other keynote speaker is Dr. George Hart who is a well known Tamil scholar in USA. Currently he occupies the prestigious position of The Tamil Chair at the University of California Berkeley, CA. He has been a Berkeley faculty member since 1973. He was promoted to full professor in 1981. A Harvard B.A., M.A. and Ph.D., Professor Hart is a graduate of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, where his studies included both Tamil and Sanskrit. At Berkeley, Professor Hart has developed the Tamil program of language, literature and cultural studies to be the most important of its kind in North America. Professor Hart is the author of textbooks for both Tamil and Sanskrit, and of translations of classical Tamil poetry, and the Tamil Ramayana of Kampan. He has also published several research papers on Tamil literary topics. Besides Tamil and Sanskrit, he also knows Latin, Greek, Russian, German, and French and has extensively read the original literatures in these languages and is well versed in comparative linguistics.

Other Speakers

In addition to the above mentioned keynote speakers, there will be several others who will be presenting their papers at the conference. The current list of presenters includes the following well known Tamil scholars and Thirukkural researchers:

     Prof. Bala Mohan Thampi, Former Vice Chancellor, Kerala University, India

Prof. M. Ananthakrishnan, Former vice Chancellor, Anna University, India

Prof. P. K. Ponnousamy, Former Vice Chancellor, Madurai Kamaraj Univeristy

Prof. Avvai Natarajan, Former Vice Chancellor, Thanjai Tamil Univ. Thanjaur, India

Dr. P. Marudanayagam, Director, Pondicherry Institute of linguistics and culture, India

Prof. T. Murugarathanam, Professor Emeritus, Madurai kamaraj University

Dr. Francis S. Muthu, Dy. Director, Social Services, Cook County, IL, USA

Mr. Rex Arul, International Amnesty Foundation, USA

Prof. S. V. Shanmugam, Former Professor, Annamalai University, India

Dr. Cheyon, Author and well known Thirukkural Scholar, India

Rev. Fr. Jegath Gasper Raj, Tamil Maiyam, Chennai, India

 

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© 2005 International Thirukkural Conference by Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington, Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, International Society for Tamil Cultural Studies (Madurai), Mylai Thiruvalluvar Tamil Sangam (Mylapore) and other Tamil organizations & institutions.