Tamil

Inaugural chair in Tamil studies to foster scholarship, teaching and research

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:11:15 +0000

Inaugural chair in Tamil studies to foster scholarship, teaching and research

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 11/30/2023 - 14:11

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Sidharthan Maunaguru, currently an associate professor at National University of Singapore, has been appointed the inaugural chair in Tamil studies at U of T Scarborough (submitted photo)

Don Campbell

Topic

Our Community

Global

Tamil

U of T Scarborough

Subheadline

“I believe U of T Scarborough will emerge as a global hub for collaborating, experimenting and creating discussions on new directions for Tamil studies”

The newly appointed chair of Tamil studies at the ��Ƶ Scarborough says he is looking forward to making the campus a global hub for Tamil research and scholarship.

“I'm honoured to be appointed as the inaugural chair of Tamil studies,” says Sidharthan Maunaguru, who will start the role in May 2024.

“Scholars at U of T have already set a solid foundation for Tamil studies. As chair I will be building on these foundations while looking forward to expanding scholarship and research by bringing an interdisciplinary approach.”

The chair in Tamil studies will not only support academic programming and research in Tamil language and history, it will also help preserve its rich culture for future generations.

Maunaguru is currently an associate professor in the department of sociology and anthropology, and South Asian studies program, at National University of Singapore. He is a renowned expert on global Tamil communities whose research intersects with anthropology, history and philosophy. His 2019 book Marrying for a Future: Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages in the Shadow of War explored how marriage emerged as an important means of building alliances between dispersed segments of Tamil communities across the globe.

He hopes to foster Tamil scholarship, teaching and research by taking a collective approach.

“My vision is to ground, create and promote thriving Tamil scholarships and research on the ethos of inclusiveness and diversity that will connect and bring together Tamil scholarships from communities across the world into Canada,” he says.

“I believe U of T Scarborough will emerge as a global hub for collaborating, experimenting and creating discussions on new directions for Tamil studies.”

A performance of the Legend of Ponnivala was held at U of T Scarborough in support of the chair in Tamil studies (photo by Joseph Burrell)

Tamil is among the world’s seven classical languages, with a linguistic and literary history stretching back more than 2,000 years. With 80 million-plus speakers, it’s one of the most frequently spoken languages in the world.

The chair was made possible through a landmark $3-million philanthropic effort that began in 2018 and was spearheaded by the Canadian Tamil Congress and Tamil Chair Inc.

“We are thrilled that Professor Maunaguru has been hired as the inaugural chair in Tamil studies,” says Sivan Ilangko, who was committee chair for the chair in Tamil studies and is an adviser to and former president of the Canadian Tamil Congress.

“When we envisioned having a chair who could lead Tamil studies we knew U of T Scarborough would be an ideal location because U of T is Canada’s most prestigious university and Scarborough is home to a large Tamil population. It is exciting to think about all of the world-class research and scholarship that will be created in the years to come.”

Canada is home to the largest Tamil diaspora outside of South Asia, with a large portion living in the Greater Toronto Area. Lisa Lemon, U of T Scarborough’s executive director of development and alumni relations, says the campaign was a grassroots effort involving more than 3,800 donors, including many from Scarborough and the Greater Toronto Area.

“This is a momentous occasion for our campus. We are so excited to celebrate this announcement with our large Tamil-heritage student and alum population,” Lemon says.

“While most of the donors were from Canada and the United States, it was also exciting to see support coming from France, Australia and Malaysia. It just goes to show how much support there is internationally for Tamil studies.”

Through storytelling fellowship, three U of T Scarborough students reimagine an ancient Tamil epic

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 22:43:50 +0000

Through storytelling fellowship, three U of T Scarborough students reimagine an ancient Tamil epic

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 01/27/2022 - 17:43

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From left to right: Raina Daniel, Christy Lorentz, and Shajaky Parameswaran are recipients of the U of T Scarborough Library Sophia Hilton Storytelling Fellowship, which, this year, focuses on the Tamil epic The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu (photos supplied)

Topic

Undergraduate Students

Students from the ��Ƶ Scarborough are reimagining an ancient Tamil epic, bringing it to life in ways that honour its tradition while adapting it for the 21^stcentury.

Through the inaugural U of T Scarborough Library Sophia Hilton Storytelling Fellowship, three U of T Scarborough students were awarded an eight-month opportunity and $4,000 to explore the art and practice of storytelling. This year, the fellowship focuses on the Tamil epic The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu. The title is translated into English as The Land of the Golden River, specifically referencing the Kaveri waterway in India.

The tale begins with the Goddess Parvathi, who created nine farmers and told them to cultivate an expansive, forested land. It follows these men and their families across three generations – through triumphs, defeat, famines, curses, power struggles and gods trying to be helpful. The story’s several principal Hindu deities are faced with the wider challenge of defending a broad set of morals while maintaining balance, fairness and wellbeing in the cosmos at large.

The fellowship was made possible by a donation from the Sophia Hilton Foundation, led by U of T anthropologist Brenda Beck, a specialist in Tamil folklore and the Indian state Tamil Nadu. She is mentoring students throughout the fellowship, which runs until March.

Under her guidance, they are learning how to tell dynamic stories and hone their creative skills.

“My passion is to help make this story relevant to Tamil-Canadians today so that many more students whose families have roots in this cultural area can feel proud of their unique, rich and, to date, largely unknown folk heritage,” Beck says. “This story deserves recognition in the same class as any of the other great epics known to the world. Any and all listeners will be enriched by learning more about it.”

The students will develop, test and execute a variety of storytelling delivery strategies for both online and in-person audiences. Their storytelling abilities will also be tested as they explore a wide variety of teaching plans and topics to develop innovative story-teaching approaches. They have creative freedom to explore mythical and symbolic themes, social justice issues, economic development and the impact on society, immigration and more.

The students come from diverse scholarly and arts backgrounds – a testament to the fellowship’s innovative structure that encourages interdisciplinary approaches to storytelling.

Christy Lorentz, a second-year journalism and English major at U of T Scarborough, applied to the fellowship because storytelling always fascinated her.

“I felt like this fellowship was calling my name,” she says.

Lorentz adds that she most enjoys telling stories through movement using her background in ballet and performance. She hopes to choregraph dances inspired by the themes in The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu.

“There is a universal quality to dance that enables it to transcend linguistic boundaries and make up for where words fall short,” Lorentz says.

She also credits the fellowship’s potential effects on her work as a journalist.

“This fellowship will allow me to actively refine my storytelling and communication skills so that I can better empathize with people and authentically represent their stories in my journalistic career, building meaningful connections that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries.”

Shajaky Parameswaran, a third-year neuroscience major, will be focusing on the women in the story, along with their actions and relationships. She wants to combine both visual and written elements in her final production of the ancient tale.

“I hope to find connections between the modern day and The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu, and share a story where women of all forms can feel empowered and inspired,” Parameswaran says.

Coming from a Tamil cultural background herself, she saw the fellowship as a chance to learn more about her heritage.

“I saw it as an opportunity that would allow me to connect with my language and culture.”

Raina Daniel, a fourth-year philosophy and media studies major, hopes to turn The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu into a live performance series. She credits novelists Gabriel García Márquez and Arundhati Roy as inspirations.

“As someone who has grown up witnessing the relationships in a close-knit, intergenerational family, different depictions of the dramas, joys and sorrows within a bloodline are always fascinating,” Daniel says.

A dancer with a love of music, she is excited to experiment with different mediums to explore how The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu translates across various modes of expression.

“The beauty of dance and music is that they are some of the earliest forms of storytelling – ancient legends packaged in a catchy and entertaining way that can be remembered and passed on,” Daniel says.

“I suppose I just love the idea that these early forms live on today, and we can continue to invent new ways of passing on our favourite tales.”

All three students are currently working together to create a series of podcasts about The Legend of Ponnivala Nadu. They hope to create an archive that can be widely shared later this year. The stories created through the fellowship will also be recorded for the U of T Scarborough Library’s Digital Tamil Collections.

Thousands support campaign to create chair of Tamil studies at U of T Scarborough

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 03 May 2021 14:25:01 +0000

Thousands support campaign to create chair of Tamil studies at U of T Scarborough

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 05/03/2021 - 10:25

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(Photo by Ken Jones)

Topic

A campaign to establish a chair in Tamil studies at the ��Ƶ Scarborough – the first of its kind in Canada – has reached its $3-million philanthropic goal.

More than 3,800 donors gave to the grassroots campaign, which was spearheaded by the Canadian Tamil Congress and Tamil Chair Inc. in 2018. Since then, individuals, businesses, governments and community organizations have pitched in with support. While most of the donors are local to Scarborough and the eastern Greater Toronto Area, the campaign also generated support from as far away as France, Australia and Malaysia.

For fourth year student Kanitha Uthayakuma, who has been actively involved in the Tamil Students Association at U of T Scarborough, establishing a Tamil chair represents a significant achievement.

“There are a large number of Tamil students at UTSC,” says Uthayakuma. “A lot of Tamil students want to learn their history. Having the opportunity to study Tamil at the university level would be great.”

Tamil is among the world’s seven classical languages, with a continuous linguistic and literary history stretching back more than 2,000 years. With 80 million-plus speakers, Tamil is one of the most frequently spoken languages in the world. And Canada – particularly eastern Toronto – is home to the largest Tamil community outside of the Indian subcontinent.

Welcomed by U of T Scarborough’s large and active Tamil-heritage student population, the chair in Tamil studies will help enable the preservation and memorialization of Tamil culture and language through scholarship, and establish a focal point for Tamil scholars from all over the world to collaborate or pursue higher Tamil studies.

For organizers and many campaign supporters, bringing the chair to U of T was a priority since it’s one of the top-ranked schools in the world – and a school that values inclusive excellence.

“We are proud to establish a Tamil Chair at Canada's most prestigious university – the ��Ƶ – and in particular to its Scarborough Campus, a part of our great city that is home to a large Tamil population,” said Sivan Ilangko, head of the committee for the chair in Tamil studies, president of the Canadian Tamil Congress and a director of Tamil Chair Inc. “On behalf of the Canadian Tamil Congress and Tamil Chair Inc., we would like to thank each and every donor, volunteer and community group who contributed to this historical initiative,”

“I offer my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to the campaign organizers, volunteers and the countless donors from around the world, whose commitment, determination, perseverance, passion, and belief in the cause enabled us to realize this goal,” said Wisdom Tettey, vice-president and principal of U of T Scarborough, in a statement. “They have brought to fruition the collective aspiration of the global Tamil community to preserve, grow, and sustain its cultural heritage for the enrichment of the common good.

“Together with our community partners, we proudly celebrate what has been accomplished through this truly unique exemplar of innovative, inclusive, and participatory university-community mobilization for common purpose.”

'Something that should be shared internationally': How an ancient Tamil epic was given new life at U of T Scarborough

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 09 May 2019 20:51:34 +0000

'Something that should be shared internationally': How an ancient Tamil epic was given new life at U of T Scarborough

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 05/09/2019 - 16:51

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U of T's anthropologist Brenda Beck first discovered The Legend of Ponnivala in the 1960s. She has since turned the folk epic into a book, graphic novels and, with the help of a U of T employee, live performances (photo by Joseph Burrell)

Alexa Battler

Topic

City & Culture

Anthropolgy

Faculty of Arts & Science

��Ƶ anthropologist Brenda Beck first heard the story that would change her life in Olappalayam, a village in India.

The year was 1965 and Beck was doing research for her doctoral studies when two bards sung The Legend of Ponnivala, an ancient, oral folk epic from South India. With permission, she recorded the epic, which took 38 hours to sing over 18 nights.

“It’s a very rich and interesting story, which is totally unknown in the world of literature,” says Beck, who is an adjunct professor in U of T’s department of anthropology. “It is something that should be shared internationally, and it’s something that Tamils can be proud of.”

At U of T Scarborough’s first Tamil Heritage Month celebration earlier this year, 18 performers made history by illustrating parts of the legend. It was the first time two ancient Tamil arts came together – an ancient tale told in a musical storytelling form too old to accurately date.

The U of T Scarborough performance was the first time the legend had been performed as a Villu Paattu, or bow-song, an ancient musical technique that combines narration and a 10-foot bow-string struck for rhythm.

The legend is as difficult to summarize as the Iliad or Beowulf. The story spans roughly two centuries, set in the post-Sangam era in the Kongu region, now part of modern-day South India.

The story begins with the Goddess Parvati, who created nine farmers and told them to cultivate a vast, forested land. It follows these men and their families across three generations – through victory, defeat, famines, curses, power struggles and interfering gods.

Beck first published the tale in 1992 as a two-volume book in Tamil with English translations on alternate pages. She later decided to convert the story into modern mediums and found an animator from a village not far from where she first heard the story. Together, Beck and the artist, whose own grandfather had sung the legend, created a 13-hour animated series.

She went on to turn the story into graphic novels, in English and Tamil, and taught parts of it in local Toronto schools.

“I believe folklore and related story traditions can be used culturally, and applied to new situations,” she says. “I want to see this story grow and become meaningful here.”

A match made in Canada

Shanmugananthan Ramaneekaran, a caretaker at Hart House and University College, wrote, directed and acted portions of the legend at a street festival in Markham, Ont. (photo by Joseph Burrell)

Fast-forward almost half a century, to 2009 – the year Shanmugananthan Ramaneekaran came to Canada as a refugee, fleeing Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Ramaneekaran was a celebrated performer in Tamil folk arts and worked training teachers for Sri Lanka’s ministry of education. Upon coming to Canada, he became a caretaker at U of T’s Hart House and University College. After years of saving, he brought his wife and children to Canada in 2012.

He continued to perform for the GTA’s Tamil community and taught his children to do the same.

“Our community is a very ancient one, we have so much culture and tradition,” Ramaneekaran says. “Whatever I have, I want to share it with communities and other people.”

A few years ago, Beck watched Ramaneekaran on stage at a Tamil folk performance. Struck by his talent, she knew she had to meet him. They have been friends ever since.

Beck says The Legend of Ponnivala made its way to Sri Lanka, as families from the Indian continent were taken as labourers to tea plantations in Sri Lanka’s hill country decades ago. But Ramaneekaran had never heard it. Throughout their friendship, he grew to appreciate the story – just as Beck had almost 50 years earlier, no more than 1,000 kilometres from where he grew up.

This is how The Legend of Ponnivala found a new home, on a new continent, in a new century, and how, through Beck and Ramaneekaran, found a way to become something new.

The epic retold

At U of T Scarborough’s first Tamil Heritage Month celebration earlier this year, 18 performers made history by illustrating parts of the legend (photo by Joseph Burrell)

In 2015, at Markham Ont.’s first Tamil Street Festival, Ramaneekaran wrote, directed and acted portions of the legend in a solo performance. He told it as a koothu, an artform from early Tamil country (circa 200 BC), in which performers tell epic stories by singing, playing music and dancing.

But at U of T Scarborough, it was Ramaneekaran’s daughter Tharscika Ramaneekaran (a current student and now the family’s second generation of Tamil-Canadians) that sat centre stage. At the Tamil Heritage Month celebration, she struck a 10-foot bow-string with two wooden rods, singing and acting with 16 other young Tamil-Canadians for the 40-minute performance.

“Through my daughter, I continue to tell these stories to the younger generation, that is my dream,” says Ramaneekaran, who wrote and directed the performance. “She’s very talented. Whatever I had, she has now.”

Ramaneekaran was also able to bring more youth into the performance by having them mime portions of the story.

“We are a very ancient history and traditional culture,” Ramaneekaran says. “We have it with us – that’s why we try to keep it alive.”

U of T event celebrates Tamil community, raises money for research chair

davidlee1 — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 14:09:56 +0000

U of T event celebrates Tamil community, raises money for research chair

davidlee1 Fri, 01/25/2019 - 09:09

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Performers at the Tamil Heritage Month celebration hosted at U of T Scarborough (photo by Joseph Burrell)

Topic

As a volunteer teacher, Tharscika Ramaneekaran remembers a student telling her why she wanted to learn Tamil – she could not understand her grandparents.

Tamil is one of the world's oldest languages is spoken by more than 80 million people. But after thousands of years, many physical copies of its rich literature and history are now gone.

Ramaneekaran, a third-year biochemistry student, said this is why having a chair in Tamil studies at ��Ƶ Scarborough is so important.

“By having a Tamil chair to do proper research, it’s not just that we can connect with our own culture and language,” said Ramaneekaran, who is also culture director of U of T Scarborough’s Tamil Students’ Association.

“We can tell the world, we can share it.”

Ramaneekaran was one of several performers at the first Tamil Heritage Month celebration hosted earlier this week at U of T Scarborough. The event celebrated the Tamil community and was a fundraiser for an initiative to bring a full-time chair in Tamil studies to the university.

The event was created in collaboration with Tamil Chair Inc. and the Canadian Tamil Congress, two non-profit organizations that pledged $3 million in 2018 toward creating a chair. The funds will support the chair’s work to research Tamil language, history and culture, and develop an academic program for Tamil studies.

U of T Scarborough student Tharscika Ramaneekaran (left) was one of 18 performers that sang, acted and narrated an epic story at the Tamil Heritage Month celebration (photo by Joseph Burrell)

“During this special time, we want to recognize the many contributions Tamil-Canadians have made in our society,” Wisdom Tettey, U of T Scarborough’s vice-president and principal, told the audience gathered at the event.

“It is with the unwavering support of this community that the ��Ƶ Scarborough is able to strengthen and be a leader in Tamil studies.”

Wisdom Tettey, the vice-president and principal of U of T Scarborough, speaks during the Tamil heritage celebration (photo by Joseph Burrell)

The night began and ended with dances by Niro Dance Creations, a Scarborough dance school that specializes in classical Indian dance. Their closing dance was a new routine to a new tune — an original theme song donated for the Tamil chair initiative by D. Imman, a famous film composer, music director and singer in the Tamil film industry.

“The one thing that unifies all of us right here is because we are all Tamil and for that I feel very proud,” Imman told the audience in Tamil.

The night also marked the appointment of Imman as a Canadian ambassador of Tamil Chair Inc.

Imman’s contribution earned him recognition from U of T Scarborough. He was also recognized by local city councillor Jennifer McKelvie and by Vijay Thanigasalam, who was elected to the provincial legislature last year.

The night’s feature event, a traditional Tamil performance, was used to tell an epic tale. The performance was a Villu Paatu, or bow-song, an ancient storytelling form in which a massive bow strung with bells is struck to create music. It accompanies songs and narration.

Actors during a performance of The Legend of Ponnivala, an ancient Tamil folk epic (photo by Joseph Burrell)

The songs, music and narration were all written by Shanmuganathan Ramaneekaran, caretaker at U of T’s Hart House and University College. Eighteen performers illustrated parts of The Legend of Ponnivala, the oral folk epic (estimated to be at least 500 years old) from South India.

U of T researcher Brenda Beck first brought the tale to Canada and the U.S. in the late 1960s.

“I hope this will be the first chair, and the first university, that will expand to give value and importance to the folk traditions of Tamil culture,” Beck said.

Group pledges $3-million to U of T for chair in Tamil studies

noreen.rasbach — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Group pledges $3-million to U of T for chair in Tamil studies

noreen.rasbach Tue, 06/26/2018 - 00:00

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Dr. Vijay Janakiraman (left) is greeted by Bruce Kidd and Georgette Zinaty, executive director of development and alumni relations at U of T Scarborough. Sivan Ilangko is at the podium (photo by Don Campbell)

Topic

A group from the Tamil community in Canada and the United States is teaming up to pledge $3-million to create a chair in Tamil studies at the ��Ƶ Scarborough.

The pledge, made by Tamil Chair Inc. and the Canadian Tamil Congress, includes raising funds to support an endowment for a full-time chair position that will explore aspects of Tamil language, history and culture through research and scholarship.

“Language is an integral part of Tamil identity," says Sivan Ilangko, vice-president of the Canadian Tamil Congress and a director of Tamil Chair Inc. “This initiative will not only help the academic advancement of the language, it will help open it up and share it with the rest of the world.”

The pledge comes on the heels of two recent gifts made to support Tamil studies at U of T Scarborough. Ravi Gukathasan, a U of T alumnus and Scarborough businessman, donated $2-million in 2017, while earlier this year Brenda Beck, an adjunct professor in anthropology, donated $327,000 to support programming and digital archiving.

“This commitment to establish a chair in Tamil studies is truly inspiring,” says Professor Bruce Kidd, vice-president of U of T and principal of U of T Scarborough.

“The Tamil language, history and culture are such an important part of the human experience and the story of immigration and refugee settlement in Toronto, that we are delighted to be able to strengthen Tamil studies at UTSC in this way.”

Tamil is one of the world’s oldest and longest-surviving languages, and is spoken by more than 80 million people around the world. Tamil poetry and literature has also existed for more than 2,000 years and comprises large volumes of works. But it continues to be neglected in many universities, says Dr. Vijay Janakiraman, president of Tamil Chair Inc., which is the non-profit set up to create and support chairs in Tamil studies at top universities around the world.

The official announcement took place at U of T Scarborough on Monday night and included a lamp lighting ceremony (photo by Don Campbell)

“Among all the classical languages, Tamil has been largely ignored at the university level outside of Asia,” says Dr. Janakiraman, a cardiologist from Pennsylvania who initiated the Harvard Tamil Chair project.

“Our goal is to change all that. We want to have a chair at all of the top universities around the world because without an endowment fund to support a chair, it’s difficult for consistent research to take place.”

It’s also fitting that U of T Scarborough will be the Canadian location for a chair in Tamil studies. In addition to recent gifts made to the campus for Tamil studies, the Greater Toronto Area is home to the largest Tamil community outside of Asia, and Scarborough is also the location of the largest annual Tamil street festival held outside of the Indian subcontinent, which is hosted by the Canadian Tamil Congress.

“In many aspects of life, Tamils have been successful in Canada, whether in medicine, academics, business or various levels of government,” says Ilangko. “It’s a source of pride for our community to be able to give back in this way.”

It’s a community effort, says Ilangko, with Toronto-based writer Appadurai Muttulingam, Danton Thurairajah, and Dr. Varadarajan Raghuraman being heavily involved in the initiative.

The timing of the pledge is ideal given the momentum created by the recent establishment of the Harvard Tamil Chair and the declaration of Tamil Heritage Month in Canada. But he adds there are also important lessons in Tamil literature that resonate today.

“More than 2,000 years ago, the Tamil poet Kaniyan Pungundranar said, ‘To us all towns are one, all persons our kin,’” says Ilangko.

“There is an abundance of ethical wisdom to be found in these ancient Tamil texts waiting to be explored.”

Scarborough business owner donates $2 million to U of T for Tamil studies

ullahnor — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 22:47:00 +0000

Scarborough business owner donates $2 million to U of T for Tamil studies

ullahnor Fri, 01/13/2017 - 17:47

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Sinhala and Tamil New Year in Sri Lanka (photo by Amila Tennakoon via Flickr)

Berton Woodward

Author legacy

Berton Woodward

Topic

One of U of T’s earliest Tamil alumni has given a historic donation of $2 million to support Tamil studies program.

The gift from Ravi Gukathasan, who is CEO of Digital Specialty Chemicals Ltd. in Scarborough, is the largest single cash gift from an alumnus in U of T Scarborough's history. It will fund an annual post-doctoral fellowship in Tamil studies as well as scholarships, event programming and digital archiving.

“I want UTSC to be a star when it comes to the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, its culture, its language, its perspective in the world,” says Gukathasan. “We have the biggest Tamil diaspora in the world in Scarborough. They need to be proud.”

Read CBC story on donation

UTSC alumnus Ravi Gukathasan's gift to the university will fund an annual post-doctoral fellowship in Tamil studies as well as scholarships, event programming and digital archiving (photo by Ken Jones)

He also sees his gift as a leadership example for other members of the Tamil community to follow.

“I applaud Dr. Gukathasan’s initiative and passionate support of UTSC and am confident that his generous example will stimulate other alumni, not just alumni from the Tamil community, to step forward with game-changing donations,” says U of T Scarborough Principal Bruce Kidd.

The 10-year commitment will fund the $1.25 million Ethan and Leah Schweitzer Gukathasan Fellowship, named for Gukathasan’s two teenage children as well as provide $500,000 for a programming fund, $150,000 for a digital fund and $100,000 for scholarships.

“The gift will add hugely to our ability to expose our campus to what’s going on in Tamil worlds,” says Bhavani Raman, associate professor in the department of historical and cultural studies and chair of the tri-campus Tamil Worlds Initiative programming committee. “We will be able to support young and upcoming scholars from all over the world with the postdoctoral fellowship as well as other visitors.”

She notes that a previous substantial gift from Gukathasan has already allowed U of T Scarborough to sponsor a Tamil studies conference, hold regular public programming on Tamil subjects and work with the U of T Scarborough Library to enhance its Tamil-language collection. She expects to be able to greatly expand such initiatives including the digitization of Sri Lankan Tamil works for global access.

“Beyond U of T, the gift will be a big resource for Tamil studies because there are very few post-doctoral fellowships dedicated to this field,” she says. “My guess is we’ll get many applicants from outside Canada.”

Gukathasan grew up outside Jaffna in Sri Lanka’s Tamil north, then left with the family for the U.K. in 1974. They later re-emigrated to Canada, settling in northern Scarborough, and in 1978, Gukathasan entered what was then Scarborough College, founded just 13 years earlier.

“I was one of only two Tamils in the whole school,” he says.

After gaining his PhD in chemistry at U of T, Gukathasan founded Digital Specialty Chemicals, a highly successful enterprise located on Coronation Drive in southeastern Scarborough, where he has also created a small park and decorated the lobby with Indigenous art.

He’s very proud of his two children with fellow chemist and alumna Caroline Schweitzer whose names are on the gift. Ethan, 18, recently entered chemical engineering at U of T, while Leah, 17 and in Grade 12, wants to study at U of T in evolutionary anthropology.

Gukathasan sees his gift as just the start. “I’m hoping others will follow suit with more money,” he says. “I hope we can keep building this program and make it very, very well-funded and well-rounded.”