I had a language requirement for both my BA and PhD. I was fluent in Spanish, and the PhD examiner knew it. My test was "suppose you were in a bar in the Dominican Republic and you wanted to order a beer. What would you say?" I told him. He then said, "Suppose you wanted two very cold beers?" I told him.
He signed the form, and I was done. -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: Jim Dougan [mailto:jdou...@iwu.edu] > Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 12:24 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] PhD language requirement > > Chris said.... > > > >Language requirements are still common in the humanities. I > had to do > >French for my philosophy PhD just a few years back. Sometime after > >psychology decided that it was a "natural science" (and therefore, I > >suppose, spoke the "language of nature") it dumped its language > >requirements most places. (I can remember some students > attempting to > >argue that learning a computer programing "language" > >should count. I think I lost that argument because I was so busy > >laughing.) > > > I had no Ph.D. level language requirement. > > As an undergraduate I had no university-wide language > requirement, but my biology major (part of a psych-bio > double) required a year of something. I made exactly the > same argument Chris is laughing about > - and lost. > > Before Chris starts laughing again I would ask him what > purpose such a requirement serves? > > If it is a passing wave to liberal education, fine - I can > live with that. > > But - if a few semesters of foreign language are somehow > supposed to be useful - well - I know for a fact that an > equivalent number of semesters in computer science have been > of far greater use in my career. > > -- Jim Dougan > > P.S. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that Smitty > Stevens didn't think Harvard Ph.D. students knew enough > German, so he would sometimes give exams in German, without > prior warning. > > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
