Letter of Protest to SUNY-Albany
Melissa Smith
mtsmith02 at YSU.EDU
Mon Oct 11 17:37:10 UTC 2010
I passed the info to a cousin of mine who works for the ACLU in
Albany, and she passed it on. The word she got is that there are
"other" language programs in the SUNY system and they are trying to
consolidate programs in a kind of hub of specialization system. Another
example of the marginalization of language study in the US!
Melissa Smith
On 10/10/10 5:13 PM, cjostrow at NYCAP.RR.COM wrote:
> Now there are 7145 signatures (after I finally was able to get to my
home e-mail).
>
> I'd like to think it will do any good; however, my experience in the
SUNY system and my familiarity with SUNY Albany (I've been a faculty
member at a SUNY community college in the Capital District/Albany area
for a long, long time and grew up here) doesn't give me much confidence
that we'll be able to make any impression on the politically-driven
system and the powers-that-be at that specific institution. Albany's
"College" of Nanoscale Science and Technology (which appears to me to
be constructed, viewed, and treated much more like an industry than an
academic unit of a university--please, correct me if I'm wrong) is in
line with the region's attempt to be the next Silicon Valley--in fact,
the region has been relabeled "Tech Valley" by all sorts of
governmental and business agencies--yet we haven't been able to scrape
off the rust yet (ie., as in Rust Belt). I'm far from a Luddite;
however, the concept of EDUCATION is being driven out by a focus on JOB
TRAINING.
>
> And actually, the decimation of the humanities at SUNY Albany began in
the 1970s: loss of the comparative lit program (which had been allowed
to slide downhill); the compression of individual, discrete language
departments into what is currently (for the moment, at least) the
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
(http://www.albany.edu/llc/) . . . It's all too depressing.
>
> I do hope, however, that we can make a difference.
>
> Connie Ostrowski
>
> ---- E Wayles Browne <ewb2 at CORNELL.EDU> wrote:
> > Thanks to Josh for starting the petition. I have signed it too.
There are now 57 signatures. But the site doesn’t show who they are!!
How are we going to make an impression on the SUNY authorities with a
mere number and no names?
> > Yours,
> > --
> > Wayles Browne, Assoc. Prof. of Linguistics
> > Department of Linguistics
> > Morrill Hall 220, Cornell University
> > Ithaca, New York 14853, U.S.A.
> >
> > tel. 607-255-0712 (o), 607-273-3009 (h)
> > fax 607-255-2044 (write FOR W. BROWNE)
> > e-mail ewb2 at cornell.edu
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Josh Wilson <jwilson at SRAS.ORG>
> > Reply-To: "SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and
Literatures list" <SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu>
> > Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2010 14:02:15 -0400
> > To: <SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu>
> > Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Letter of Protest to SUNY-Albany
> >
> > http://www.petitiononline.com/SUNY/petition.html
> >
> > Assuming that Chuck and no one else objects, perhaps we could all
send this letter this way?
> >
> > Josh Wilson
> > Assistant Director
> > The School of Russian and Asian Studies
> > Editor in Chief
> > Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
> > SRAS.org
> > jwilson at sras.org
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures
list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Chuck Arndt
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 7:17 PM
> > To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> > Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Letter of Protest to SUNY-Albany
> >
> > Dear Colleagues:
> >
> > I want to thank everyone who posted on SEELANGS concerning the
closing of the French, Russian, and Italian departments at SUNY Albany.
My colleagues and I here at Union College were shocked and dismayed by
the news. As neighbors to SUNY Albany, many of us know, personally,
the modern-language faculty there and how incredibly dedicated they
are. As the Department Modern Languages and Literatures at Union
College, we have composed a letter to go both to the SUNY
administration as well as state senators and assembly members.
> >
> > The letter may undergo some last-minute changes, but I wanted to
share it with the SEELANGS community while the issue is still hot.
People can use the letter below as a template, point of reference, or
do something completely different -"дело ваше" как говорится. I hope,
however, that all of us will keep writing SUNY Albany and bombard the
university with a mass of feedback, which might cause them to
reconsider. Writing state senators and other policy-makers is also a
great idea, as has been pointed out (especially considering that, as
has been pointed out, elections are coming soon). If anyone has other
ideas, please post them and I will try to relay them to the rest of our
department. Because SUNY Albany is the flagship university for such a
multi-ethnic state, we think this is a battle worth fighting. Please
see letter below:
> >
> >
> > Заранее блaгодарю!
> >
> > Charles Arndt
> > Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian
> > Union College
> > Schenectady, NY 12309
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To the Administration of SUNY-Albany
> >
> > To local State Senators and Assembly
> > Members
> >
> > To the US Representative from the 21st
> > District
> >
> > To
> > Members of the Press
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > We
> > at the Modern Languages and Literatures Department at Union College
would like
> > to express our concern and dismay at the decision recently taken up
by the
> > president and his advisory board to eliminate French, Russian, and
Italian from
> > SUNY Albany’s curriculum.
> >
> >
> >
> > Not
> > only are we concerned for our colleagues at SUNY Albany, whom we
know to be
> > dedicated professionals and committed to their students, but we are
also
> > gravely disturbed by the irrevocable damage this would do to SUNY
Albany’s
> > reputation and the students at SUNY Albany, to their opportunities,
and to
> > their ability to succeed in our global environment. Furthermore,
we feel the decision
> > contradicts SUNY Albany’s stated values of diversity and “giving its
students
> > first-hand international experience” (SUNY’s Strategic Plan 2010, p.
19), and
> > even its logo (until very recently) of “The World Within Reach.” As
a major
> > institution of learning, SUNY Albany’s reputation could very well
slide
> > downward as a result of being unable to provide its students with
skills that
> > most other comparable universities provide.
> > Lastly, the way the decision was reached in no way allowed for
students
> > or faculty to contribute to a decision which affects their futures.
> >
> >
> >
> > As
> > a university representing a large section of New York State’s
population, SUNY
> > Albany has an obligation to prepare its students for our global
environment,
> > and this naturally includes the ability to speak and understand
foreign
> > languages. According to the Académie
> > Francaise, the French-speaking world includes around 60 countries
worldwide
> > (approximately 500 million people).
> > French is the international language of trade and business, one of
the
> > major languages in the European Union, one of the eight UN
languages, and a
> > language spoken on five continents. Moreover, Canada is our
country’s largest
> > trading partner, with French-speaking Quebec (this one province
alone) our 6th
> > largest trading partner.
> >
> >
> >
> > As
> > for Russian (which is also one of 8 UN languages), the move by SUNY
Albany’s
> > president comes at a time when the US State
> > Department and the US Department of Defense both recognize Russian
as a
> > “critical need foreign language” and has begun awarding money
through the
> > Foreign Language Assistance Program to secondary schools across the
country,
> > specifically in order to teach Russian and other “Critical
Languages.” It appears
> > SUNY Albany will not even be in the running regarding this national
initiative,
> > since it will not be able to continue the students’ Russian.
Furthermore, we
> > have been informed by our colleagues that this means there will be
no Russian
> > major anywhere in the SUNY system, a stunning fact for the Empire
State with
> > its internationalist orientation and large Russian population.
> >
> >
> >
> > Lastly, for a major university not
> > to recognize the importance of Italian language simply seems
inconceivable in a
> > state with such a large Italian-American population, to say nothing
of the
> > enormous influence of Italian culture on this state and the world.
> >
> >
> >
> > We believe the actions of president of
> > SUNY Albany and his advisory board resulting in the destruction of
entire
> > programs are unprecedented in their rashness and scope. They will
severely
> > diminish their students’ competitiveness in a world that is becoming
more, and
> > not less, integrated. If these moves are
> > implemented, SUNY-Albany will be alone nation-wide among major
universities in
> > closing an entire French program, and nowhere in the entire system
will a
> > student be able to have a Russian major.
> > We cannot see how SUNY Albany can propose to “send students abroad”
> > (SUNY’s Strategic Plan 2010, p. 19), without being embarrassed and
ashamed that
> > they will be some of the few students from a major university unable
to
> > communicate with so many peoples of the world. We hope that the
president and
> > administration at SUNY Albany will reconsider this destructive
action. We hope that policy-makers in Albany will
> > take note of how much less competitive this will make students of
this great
> > state and will work to find a better
> > alternative to this unprecedented move.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Respectfully
> > Yours,
> >
> >
> >
> > Prof.
> > Cheikh Ndiaye
> >
> > Chair,
> > Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
> >
> >
> >
> > For himself and
> > all 25 members of the Department in multiple language programs,
unanimously
> > united
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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------------------------------------
Melissa T. Smith, Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and
Literatures
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH 44555
Tel: (330)941-3462
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