Let's introduce ourselves!

[Harold F. Schiffman]

I won't be able to be at the upcoming meetings, either, but here's my
self-introduction:

I am Professor of Dravidian Linguistics and Culture in the department of
South Asia Studies at Penn, where I have been since 1995; before that, 28
years at the University of Washington.

My research interests focus on the linguistics of the Dravidian languages,
especially Tamil, and to a lesser extent, Kannada, and in the area of
language policy.  I have published in these two areas where overlapping
interests in sociolinguistics (diglossia, language standardization,
multilingualism) intersect with language policy and the politics of
language.  I am also director of the Consortium for Language Policy and
Planning, and just concluded a three-year stint as Pedagogical Materials
Director of the newly constituted National South Asia Language Resource
Center. Recent publications include Linguistic Culture and Language Policy
(Routledge 1996) and A Reference Grammar of Spoken Tamil (Cambridge
University Press, 1999).

E-mail: haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Website:  http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs
Office: 805 Williams Hall
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6305
Telephone: (215) 898-5825