Proposal to merge language departments is under discussion
UCLA is not unique in feeling the crunch in the humanities, particularly in languages. Ruiz, a member of the Board of Directors for the American Council of Learned Societies and other national associations, sees reports that point to a distressing national trend driven by dwindling resources and limited enrollment. The University of Albany, SUNY, for example, announced last October that it was suspending all new admissions to its French, Russian and Italian programs, along with other areas of study, and phasing them out. In 2008, USC announced it was dismantling its German Department, eliminating the major but continuing to offer a basic language instruction program. "It’s a storm raging across this country. Things are really bad. And the humanities are getting it in the neck," Ruiz said… "For every 10 faculty who retire or leave, we are able to hire only three or four people to replace them," said Stowell. "So the sad truth is that most faculty who leave won
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by Staff, UCLA Today.