Members of the language departments agreed that the cap size for enrollment in foreign language courses could increase to 25 students from a maximum of 18 as an alternative solution to reducing the foreign language requirement to two semesters instead of three and allowing culture courses taught in English to fulfill the requirement, according to Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe.Jaffe met with department chairs and language department coordinators last Thursday, after the Special Advisory Faculty Committee suggested that the language requirement be altered.

"When the dean announced the proposal, everybody was shocked," said Director of Russian Language Program Prof. Irina Dubinina (GRALL). "That this solution could even be thought of is what concerns us," she said. "As much as I sympathize with the position of the administration, I also agree with my colleagues in that such drastic curriculum decisions should not be dictated only by the budget," she added.

"I think that many instructors and professors who teach in the languages feel very strongly that it's important to maintain the year-and-a-half requirement" because "the third term of instruction really marks a time in many languages where students finally begin to have the sense that they can really use the language effectively," Prof. Matthew Fraleigh (GRALL) said. "To cut that to just a year, I think a lot of people feel that it waters down the requirement too much for it to accomplish its purpose," he added.

"If we agree to cancel or significantly reduce the language requirement, it will compromise the mission and integrity of the University, and we can never go back," said Prof. Joelle Tomb (ROMS).

Chair of the Department of Romance Studies Prof. Edward Kaplan said, "When faced with the possibility of changing the language requirement to courses taught in English to satisfy it, which is absurd, we decided we would be willing to take up to 25 students in the class, even though it puts a strain on the pedagogy, which tends to be very personalized in our departments at all levels." Kaplan described it as a good compromise to a bad fiscal situation.

Tomb explained that with increased class sizes, the quality of instruction will be directly affected. She also said that it will make it more difficult for language professors to get to know their students well. "If you want to enforce the language program, you have to be able to encourage students from the beginning by making them more involved and by being more attentive to their needs so they can grow," she said.

Undergraduate Advising Head of French and Francophone Studies Prof. Michael Randall (ROMS) echoed Kaplan's concerns. "We need to support the teaching of languages and foreign cultures as the idea of this global University. If we're truly a global University, we need to promote languages because it's extremely important for students to be confronted with foreign culture on the terms of foreign cultures in order to understand them from within," he said.

Director of German Language Program Prof. Christine Geffers Browne (GRALL) said that the language directors present at the meeting with Jaffe "explained how very crucial the language requirement is for a liberal arts education; it's practically the foundation." She said that the goal of the language programs is "to produce students who are worldly and competitive."

She plans on assigning more group-oriented work both in class and for homework so that students will be able to develop their "oral competency in spite of larger classes and hence less individual time to speak in class."

"I think that decreasing the requirement to just two semesters and also letting people fulfill it by not taking language classes would have ultimately killed the language program at Brandeis," University Departmental Representative for German Language and Literature Eve Neiger '09 said.

Prof. Sabine von Mering (GRALL) said, "I am absolutely confident that this is a temporary measure."

-Anya Bergman contributed reporting