The University's strong language program has always been a key selling point of the school.
All graduating liberal arts students have completed at least six semesters of language coursework, International Relations majors have completed eight semesters, and many students have completed higher level course or additional requirements beyond these minimums.
The current surge of student enrollment in language courses means now is the time for the University to upgrade its current, and already commendable, offerings.
The double digit increases in many language programs have resulted from several parallel trends in language study at Tufts.
More students are continuing languages into upper levels, working towards fluency. Other students are taking up third and fourth languages.
The dark side of this phenomenon is that courses are filling up quickly, and there are often not enough seats in high demand courses such as Spanish 22.
Changes in enrollment represent an opportunity for language departments to evolve.
Language study, at all levels, should be related to subject content. This means not focusing exclusively on dry grammar exercises, but also the country and culture being studied.
Lower levels should focus on conversational language, functioning as a bootcamp for surviving in the country. At the upper levels there should be a shift toward issue focused coursework.
Arabic and Chinese classes are among those with the largest enrollment increases. One reason frequently given for this increase is America's current political relationship with countries speaking these languages. Professors need to integrate these issues into the classroom.
Interdisciplinary opportunities also need to be explored. The French Department, for example, could work with Political Science Department to offer a program on France's role in the European Union. Students and professors, by analyzing French language materials, could study the issue from a perspective not normally available at the University.
Cooperation need not be limited to social science and the humanities. Cooperative courses could highlight Chinese work in environmental biology or Hindi anthropology studies.
Departments should also transform majors to fit into this interdisciplinary approach. In the same way the International Relations program draws from many departments, the language departments should open up major requirements beyond a token 'related field' course. A Latin American or Spanish history course would be both interesting and useful to Spanish majors.
One could also imagine adding complementary language requirements, additional languages of related origin, such as "Italian for French Majors."
For the moment the University needs to ensure all students can enroll in language classes of their choice. These new linguists, however, will soon be reaching upper level courses. and the University should have a more dynamic curriculum ready.
