GWU: Critical languages satisfy no general curriculum requirements

[Richard Robin]

The George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
voted today to remove all lower-division foreign language courses from the
list of those that can satisfy general curriculum requirements. This move,
part of an overall curriculum overhaul that emphasizes critical thinking,
goes farther than the mere elimination of the foreign language requirement.
It says that students who are thinking about starting a new foreign language
cannot apply those courses any of the required general curriculum
categories, including those that come under “oral communication.” The
faculty voted to allow only upper-division language courses to qualify for
that category. Some upper division foreign language courses can also qualify
as writing courses.

DISCOURAGEMENT FOR RUSSIAN AND OTHER CRITICAL LANGUAGES? Allowing
upper-division foreign language courses to satisfy general curriculum
requirements works for incoming students of Spanish and French, many of whom
can place into those courses. But students who place into first- or
second-year Russian will be denied general curriculum credit under the new
rules. That’s a strange step backwards for a school with a strong
international profile, located just three blocks from the State Department.
-- 
Richard M. Robin, Ph.D.
Director Russian Language Program
The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-7081
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Russkiy tekst v UTF-8

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