Immersion Language Training Query

[Ellen Elias-Bursac]

Dear Seelangers: I received this query from a colleague interested in
starting up an immersion language training summer school on an East Coast
campus for Eastern European languages. I would be grateful for any
comments you may have - thanks! Ellen Elias-Bursac

 ---------- Forwarded message----------

Query:

As many of you know, there  is no place  on the Eastern coast for  summer
immersion language training in the lesser studied languages of East  and
Central Europe.  In consideration of this fact, a colleague at another
university has told me that it might be possible to begin  a summer
language training institute for three or four of these languages (for
example Serbian/Croatian, Polish, and Czech). Such an institute would be
loosely based on the "Middlebury model" of total immersion in the language
and would be based at a major Eastern institution of higher education.

 In order to assess the demand for such a program,   could colleagues who
might be interested in such a program send some information about the
following

1. Which East European languages do you think there is the most demand for?
2.  What level  should the language be taught at?  (Beginning,
intermediate, etc.)
3.  Who would be most interested studying such languages intensively?
Undergraduates? Graduates? Colleagues at your or other universities?
4. What would be  a reasonable cost for an 8-9 week summer intensive
program, including room and                     board?
5.  Would visiting summer faculty be available to teach in the languages?

Please direct queries to:


XXXXXXXXXX Your email?

 Ellen -- can you field the queries and send them to me? I really don't
want to give any inkling that Wellesley is involved at this point - of
course, I don't want them to think that it's Harvard either, but I've
worded the above so that it looks like you're just fielding a query for
me.). Feel free to edit this as you please and if you could send it out to
CLANG ASAP, I'd be grateful. I'd rather have the information waiting for me
when I get back from BiH, so in case the Dean calls on me I can have
something ready.

Please let me know if this sounds OK or if you think anything could be added.


Of course I just realized that it such an institute were to take off I
wonder if that would decrease your enrollments at Harvard. I wouldn't want
that to happen. What I have in mind is something that would attract people
from away.

Anyway, let me know what you think

Best regards,

Tom





Thomas Cushman
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Sociology
Wellesley College
Wellesley, MA 02181

(781) 283-2142 (0ffice)
(781) 283-3664  (FAX)