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Yale launches Telugu program lead by Shiva Urella
Telugu was recognized among the fastest-growing language in the U.S.
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Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 27, Jan 2026
- 12:46 EST
- 25
Urella in his office in Henry R. Luce Hall. / Photo by Kamini Purushothaman/ MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale
Yale University has launched Telugu language courses for the first time, marking a significant expansion of South Asian language offerings at the university.
Scholar Shiva Sai Ram Urella has been named the inaugural Telugu instructor. He joined Yale in the fall and will teach elementary Telugu II and intermediate Telugu II, alongside an anthropology course titled Being and Becoming Hindu: Hinduism Through Ethnography.
Also Read: Bhasha Bridge: How young Indian Americans are reclaiming their mother tongue
“It’s amazing to see students progress and become more and more confident,” Urella told the university press, adding that he hopes the introduction of Telugu at Yale will encourage students to think not only about language learning but also about “the very social context of the Telugu speaking region and the diaspora in the U.S.”
Telugu is spoken by more than 83 million people worldwide and over one million in the United States. Despite being described as the fastest-growing language in the U.S., only a handful of American universities currently offer formal instruction in it.
Yale is now the fifth university in the country to do so, according to the South Asian Studies Council.
The new program is also responding to a shortage of standardized teaching materials. Urella has been developing and adapting resources for beginners, drawing on existing textbooks, archival material and digital sources, with support from Yale Library staff.
“Often, when a new class is offered at Yale, we’re in a pretty good position,” said Brent Bianchi, Yale’s South and Southeast Studies Librarian. “That was not the case with Telugu.”
Students have described the course as a rare chance to study a language that is widely spoken but rarely taught in U.S. universities.
Dhruv Javangula, a junior enrolled in the elementary class, called it a “rare opportunity” and said learning Telugu in a formal setting has helped him connect more deeply with his family.
The initiative is being offered under the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies and the South Asian Studies Council.
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