Ingrid Heidelberger, Class of 2015, SAST and Linguistics Major.

Media Analyst, Washington DC.

Bio

During my high school years, I had the opportunity to travel to southern India on several occasions in connection with a non-profit organization that my family supported. These visits sparked my interest in South Asia, and in particular South Asian languages. I had always been enjoyed studying foreign languages, and my visits to India exposed me to several of its regional languages, most notably Tamil. I decided that I absolutely had to learn Tamil, and that goal ultimately led me to the SAST department at Penn. When I arrived at Penn, I knew that I would major in linguistics and that I would study Tamil. Noting my particular interest in the languages of southern India, my advisor recommended against limiting myself to only linguistics and suggested that I take a South Asia studies course with Dr. Lisa Mitchell. After only a few weeks of classes, I was hooked.

I appreciated the interdisciplinarity of the major, which allowed us students to tailor our course of study to our individual interests. Over the past several years, I found many ways to combine linguistics with South Asia studies. Sometimes this was as simple as writing class papers on South Asian linguistics or language politics. Most recently, I conducted a senior research project in linguistics that focused on modern Tamil syntax.

In addition, undergraduate students had a strong sense that the SAST department truly was invested in our success. My professors knew me and my goals, and they went out of their way to direct me towards opportunities that fit with my interests. One such opportunity was the Tamil program at the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) in Madurai, where I spent a summer studying the Tamil language in an intense and immersive environment. I also received financial support over the past several years through the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship program. AFter grdaution, I'm hoping to gain a few years' work experience before applying to graduate school for linguistics. In the meanwhile, I will work at a media analytics company in the Washington, D.C. area.