With the generous support of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, we are offering a series of full-credit courses in Classical Nāhuatl, the official language of the Aztec Empire, and the lingua franca of much of North and Central America at the onset of the North American contact with European settlers. Nāhuatl ranks among the linguistically most versatile languages of the world, with a creative expressiveness on a level with that of Ancient Greek. Come learn the building blocks of this venerable language which will then allow you to unravel the mysteries of Nāhuatl thought and read the vast literature written in Nāhuatl shortly after the onset of European contact. Some of this literature was compiled by those who lived in the Classical-Nāhuatl-speaking world before the arrival of the European conquistadores. Many of these indigenous linguistic treasures have never been translated from Classical Nāhuatl into Spanish or English.
The course provides an excellent opportunity for students to enrich their understanding of our region and its diverse cultures. Students at both the undergraduate and graduate level will find these language courses particularly attractive options for fulfilling their language requirements. For CSUSB students, these language course sequences (FLAN 101U, 102U, and 103U) are part of the regular curriculum to fulfill the foreign language requirement.
Course Descriptions from the CSUSB Catalog (Note: Classical Nāhuatl Studies courses are listed in the Course Catalog with the course abbreviation (prefix) FLAN.)
For community members, anyone can register for these courses via Open University at: (http://cel.csusb.edu/openUni/index.html).
Please check the Class Schedule for the current offerings. (Note: Classical Nāhuatl Studies courses are listed in the Course Schedule with the course abbreviation (prefix) FLAN.)
For more information regarding these courses and the Indigenous Languages Program, please contact Professor Carmen Jany (cjany@csusb.edu).