John Howell wrote:
At 5:21 AM -0600 11/26/06, Henry E. Howey wrote:
My Friends,
As one who has been in the college teaching business for too long, I
would
like to offer a reason for the lack of foreign language excperience
these
days. Simply, during the Vietnam War, the language requirement was for
many a ticket to the rice paddies. Thus, it was dropped universally.
Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, the requirement seemed
silly
to people who have never fulfilled it.
May I suggest that dropping language requirements at research
institutions came about largely through the increased influence of
science and engineering faculties? Since the second world war,
international publication in these fields has been essentially
anglified, while the humanities have continued to offer significant
opportunities for research and publication in foreign languages. As to
draft issues, it seems like every University had one or two courses or
requirements specifically designed to weed out potential draftee, here a
language req., there a math req., and over there a tough Western Civ.
course.
Daniel Wolf
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