Introduces classical, literary Sanskrit, the ancient and trans-continental language of India's intellectual heritage, history, and sacred scriptures. Teaches students Devanagari script, to learn and analyze grammatical forms and structures, vocabulary, and to interpret meaning. Provides an overview to the literature and civilizational importance of Sanskrit, from the ancient past to the present. Course will give graduate students the grammatical and analytic tools they will need to begin to read and interpret original texts.