enrollments

[Madeline G Levine]

Freshman seminars shouldn't be seen as a "plague."  We have found that by
offering one ourselves each semester (at UNC they are freshman honors
seminars) we attract students to the department early and even though
those students may not be tempted to enroll in our RUssian language
classes they, or others who say they have been recommended by
seminar-student friends, return to take additional literature courses
from us, and occasionally language and linguistics as well.

It seems to me that freshman seminars are an educationally sound
innovation (or reintroduction of an older practice), especially at larger
institutions, and that it's not a good idea for us Slavists to be
grumbling about or attacking something that is good for students.  Then
it looks as if we are just protecting turf, rather than finding ways to
contribute to a decent education.