KOTTAYAM: The Herman Gundert chair, a joint venture of the Malayalam University, Malappuram, and the University of Tubingen, Germany, is in limbo with none taking over after the tenure of Dr Scaria Zacharia ended in September last.
The chair at the Tubingen University was established on October 9, 2015. The works of Herman Gundert were identified by Dr Scaria Zacharia in 1986. He was invited to the Tubingen University in 1990 as a fellow and the research at the university led to the publication of several of Gundert’s unknown works in En-glish and Malayalam, including the historical documents 'Payyannur Patukal' and ‘Tellichery Records.'
A two-volume anthology on Gundert was published by the Malayalam Univer-sity in February 2016.
The chair was established for collaboration in Kerala studies, especially linguistic, cultural, lexicography and grammatical. As per the agreement with the Tubingen University, the Malayalam University can access its rich treasure of Gundert archives.
A professor from the university had gone to Tubingen two months back and the new chair will be appointed within two to three months, according to the Malayalam University.
Malayalam University Vice- Chancellor V. Anil Kumar told Deccan Chronicle that the agreement between the two universities was being renewed with new norms.
"In the last financial audit, the expenses were found to be in excess. The financial burden of the Malayalam University will be reduced in the new norms," he said.
The Gundert chair is supposed to coordinate the academic and cultural activities of the Tubingen University in Germany. In the absence of the chair, the activities may be affected.
The agreement also included exchanging students of both the universities.
