I think the language is really interesting. Are there any courses anywhere where one goes beyond "learning the language"?
Addendum: I'm looking for either courses where one uses Esperanto as a working language or studies Esperanto beyond beginner level.
In the Adam Mickiewicz University, in Poznań, Poland, there is a post-graduate course in Interlinguistic Studies. Esperanto is studied and used in the classes.
The three-year course of studies includes classes from general and applied linguistics (morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) and international languages – both ethnic languages which have filled such a role from Aramaic, through Latin to English and planned languages, from the philosophical languages of the Middle Ages through Esperanto to the latest proposals. The teaching language is Esperanto.
The focus of the studies is Esperanto as the only planned language to have spread across the world. The grammar, literature and history of Esperanto are examined in depth. Another important component of the studies is intercultural communication.
En la Universitato Adam Mickiewicz, en la urbo Poznan, Pollando, estas postdiploma kurso pri Interlingvistikaj Studoj. Esperanto estas studita kaj uzita en la lecionoj.
La trijara kurso de studoj inkludas lecionojn pri ĝenerala kaj aplikata lingvistiko (morfologio, sintakso, semantiko, pragmatiko) kaj internaciaj lingvoj – ambaŭ etnaj lingvoj, kiuj rolis tian rolon de la aramea, tra Latino ĝis la angla kaj planlingvoj, de la filozofiaj lingvoj de la Mezepoko pere de Esperanto al la lastaj proponoj. La instrua lingvo estas Esperanto.
La fokuso de la studoj estas Esperanto kiel la sola planlingvo disvastiĝis tra la mondo. La gramatiko, literaturo kaj historio de Esperanto estas ekzamenita ĝisfunde. Alia grava komponento de la studoj estas interkultura komunikado.
Unfortunately, it appears that there is so little Esperanto at universities that even Esperanto courses for which students get academic credit are something to write an article about.
Let me quote the most relevant passage from the 1996 paper Esperanto Studies: An Overview:
In Hungary, an important Department of Esperanto has functioned since 1966 in the University of Budapest; while the primary focus has been on the preparation of teachers of the language, the Department has also served as a center for general interlinguistics, particularly under its founder and long-time director István Szerdahelyi (cf. Szerdahelyi 1980). In Poland, the Catholic University of Lublin possesses a major research library and has long been a center for Esperanto studies (Wojtakowski 1979) [...] While such activity has diminished in the recent wave of economic and political change, the strength and depth of this intellectual tradition make a resurgence in the longer term seem likely.
I have been unable to confirm that Esperanto is still taught and researched at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Also, it appears that the Esperanto-related activities in Lublin at some point moved from the Catholic University to the Polytechnical University, and then ceased. (In Hungary, and to a lesser extent in Poland, Esperanto doesn't fit into the current political climate anyway.)
I could not find any university that looks like an obvious choice for you. If I were you, I would try to get hold of issues of the academic journal "Language Problems and Language Planning" (or a comparable one - I am merely mentioning this one because I found some apparently relevant articles there behind a paywall), look for relevant authors there and ask them. (E.g. Sabine Fiedler of Leipzig University published about her Esperanto courses there in 2007/2008.)
Or just study a rare combination of relevant fields and then start researching in this area. E.g., if you could study linguistics, sociology and Romance literature, this would probably give you a perfect foundation. Funding problems may prevent the execution of such a plan, but you could be lucky and find European Union programmes that will throw money at this kind of research if you frame it correctly.
I'm surprised no one mentioned this university, but it is in Italy (or rather the small country of San Marino inside of Italy ) and has courses taught only in Esperanto. Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj San Marino
The University of Amsterdam has a (part time) Professor of Interlinguistics and Esperanto, Federico Gobbo; he is perhaps someone you could contact to ask.
http://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/organisation/staff-members/content/g/o/f.gobbo/f.gobbo.html
