Advertising Slavic Languages (was Re: alarm)

[David Powelstock]

> Stephen is quite right here: advertising during freshman orientation
> helps greatly with enrollments.

Our experience at Chicago bears this out.  We held an informational session
during freshman orientation for the first time this year and doubled our
1st-year Russian enrollments over last year!  Sometimes students (like
everyone else) don't think of options until you point that they exist.  I
would urge any department that does not already do this to do it.  It
helps!  An additional factor in our increase was that we are offering a
course "Russian Through Pushkin" (Based on Henry Cooper's materials), which
promises to cover as much grammar as the regular 1st-year course.  The
response to this course has been excellent.

Our enrollment numbers are still small compared to 1990 figures, but the
improvement is encouraging.  As John Kieselhorst aptly pointed out, many
factors affecting enrollments are beyond our control, but we should be
doing our best to keep the figures as strong as possible.

I would also add here a comment regarding all the recent discussion of "the
market" for Russian speakers.  Indeed, there are more jobs for someone with
Russian than ever before, mostly in the Former SU.  There are also
opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe for speakers of the relevant
languages.  As this news spreads, I think we will see improvements in
enrollments.  (So spread the news!)  At the same time, we should not fall
into the trap of selling our wares entirely on the basis of JobsJobsJobs.
Many students take a language with an eye toward improving their employment
potential.  There are many others, however, who have intellectual
interests, who can become caught up in the fascinating process of
interacting with and understanding another culture.  (And the latter
motivation does not preclude the former.)  I am sure that many of you, like
me, experienced the study of Russian in this way, and we have students here
who are drawn to it for similar reasons.  Russian literature (and other
Slavic literatures) offer their own unique and fascinating perspectives,
perspectives undergraduates will not get from studying, say, English
literature.  (I have in mind, as an example, the ethical authority of
Russian literature.)  Places like Prague, Krakow, Warsaw, Kiev, and others
in the area, are exciting places to be.  The study of a Slavic language
(and literature, society, culture, history, politics) can greatly enrich an
undergraduate education, or even stand at its center.  College is more than
a job-training program.

Incidentally, my Russo-centrism above is not meant to exclude other
languages and cultures.  I myself teach Czech literature as well, and our
department prides itself on being a *Slavic* department, not just a Russian
one.  Nevertheless, we should not forget which side our bread is buttered
on: many of our Slavic Departments would not exist if it weren't for
Russian.  It is absurd to confuse this with actual historical imperialism
in Eurasia.  Studying (and teaching) Russian doesn't make one an oppressor
any more than studying Italian or German makes one a Fascist.


Best,
David Powelstock