Changes To The Language Department
STORY BY ROSE ANDERSON
On September 15, 2023, West Virginia University announced the elimination of their entire World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics program, sending a shock through the world of higher education in the United States. Just one state over, the impact of this decision has been felt strongly by both students and professors at the College of William and Mary, with Head of the Modern Languages and Literatures Department Francie Cate saying “[we] are ever cognizant of, and often deeply troubled by, the ongoing debates—within the academy and beyond—about the work we teacher-scholars do in the Humanities: What is its market value?; What is its relevance in 21st century neoliberal societies?; What is its legitimacy of place in the “real world”, beyond the scholar’s desk and the teacher’s classroom?”
Cate emphasized that this devaluation of modern language education was not an isolated incident. “West Virginia University is not a stand-alone,” Cate continued. “There are universities all over the country that are cutting programs, eliminating departments, eliminating majors, including but not limited to language programs.” Dropping enrollment in language programs, and the subsequent defunding and, in some cases, cutting of these programs is a widespread issue, even affecting the Modern Languages department at the College. Over the past few years, several unpopular changes have been implemented in the College’s Modern Languages and Literatures Department. The first of these occurred in February 2020, when the College notified four non-tenure-eligible faculty members that their contracts would not be renewed for the 2021-22 academic year, following a 5% budget cut to the College of Arts and Sciences. “It's sad because there's such a demand for our classes,” said Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies Paul Vierthaler. “It's just awful to see your colleagues be let go because of budgetary concerns.”
This trend continued in February 2023, when the College announced the discontinuation of the German Studies major, effective in the Fall. This decision, however, was largely made by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), rather than the administration at the College. One of the functions of SCHEV is to track and approve projected enrollment in Virginia’s universities; in Spring 2023, the projected enrollment in the German major did not meet SCHEV’s standards, guiding the College’s decision to discontinue it. At the time, there were 15 students with a declared German Studies major, making it the smallest major at the College.
COURTESY IMAGE // WILLIAM & MARY
The discontinuation of the German major was a surprise to both students and faculty in the department. German Studies Program Director Jennifer Taylor said, “The German major had been under pressure for a while. We had certainly defended it for many years to SCHEV, which is the state board. But I did not expect them to get rid of the major.”
German Studies students were also given little notice about the change, allowing minimal time to adjust and alter their plans before declaring a major. “I was upset because it was definitely a reason I decided to come here: that I would have a German major and have that opportunity available to me,” said Tommy Kilroy ’26. “I was planning on taking the major and I'd taken a lot of German classes to get there. And now I'm like a class away from the minor and kind of running out of things to do.”
The common thread connecting these events is the continual drop in interest in language courses both at the College and nationwide. However, the cause of this falling enrollment is hard to pin down. There are several possible factors behind it; a common explanation is the historical rise and fall of interest in modern languages in response to current events and international conflicts. “There was a sense, particularly in public school systems, where you are to an extent answerable to the state government, that there's value brought to the state by learning these languages,” said Vierthaler. “And then I think as tensions decrease and there's a less clear-cut value proposition, then in turn funding decreases for these sorts of things.”
Another outlook is that, because of the student debt crisis, many undergraduates face financial pressure to enter a high-paying career field directly after graduation. “For some people, the anxiety of having a stable job is more important to them than doing something that they like,” said Olivia Benson ’25, a German Studies teaching assistant at the College. Taylor expanded on this, saying “I think it's that the humanities in general are not viewed by some people, including administrators and legislators, as careers that the students want to go into.”
Because of this, many students opt for majors that are more likely to garner higher salaries directly after graduation, such as business, STEM, and data science. The College’s recent projects have reflected this, with the completed construction of the Integrated Science Center IV scheduled for August 2025, introducing an engineering and design major to the college, as well as providing new facilities for the computer science and data science majors. The College’s “Vision 2026” is also highly centered around the growth of data science at the College, with one of its main tenets being to “lead the evolution of the liberal arts and sciences by integrating computational thinking and data fluency into a bold and dynamic learning experience that advances inquiry, discovery, and innovation.”
To many, this rise of STEM at the College seems to be at the expense of the College’s liberal arts identity. “I think William and Mary wants to see itself as a liberal arts university,” said Taylor. “On the other hand, these changes are big…It could mean that we're going to have a very different profile in 20 years, ten years.”
However, it is a common sentiment among many professors that, rather than diminishing the presence of the liberal arts at the College, the introduction of STEM could provide new directions in the study of humanities and modern languages. “There are all sorts of new opportunities that kind of emerge from this emphasis on the sciences,” said Vierthaler. “And I think it's very tempting to think of it as a zero-sum game, where sometimes a lot more funding that goes to the harder sciences means less funding that comes to the humanities. And, to an extent, that's true. But I think it's something that will hopefully be good in the long run, that we will be able to not abandon what makes us unique as a university, and particularly the stellar programs we do have in the humanities. I think they can co-exist quite fruitfully.”
Professor of English and American Studies Liz Losh also emphasizes the importance of not setting the sciences up against the humanities. Losh said, “I do feel like these extinction narratives that we're hearing a lot about [the humanities] are harmful, and I think they have a tendency to become self-fulfilling prophecies.”
The general message from the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is that, although there have been funding cuts in the department that have led to unfortunate consequences, the College’s language department is nowhere near a fate like WVU’s. Even within the German department, there are still a multitude of cultural and language classes being taught, an array of study abroad opportunities, the remaining German Studies minor, and the option of a self-created German Studies major. “I cannot conceive that William and Mary would do what West Virginia University just did,” said Taylor. “If they do, it would be a terrible mistake.”