Williams Language Club
In service of the Williams College Language CommunityLetter of Awesome (first draft) ;)
To Whom It May Concern, (ß This will change, depending on who we send it to)
In the light of the recent denial of tenure to Professor Sanders, we – the Williams College Language Club on behalf of the undersigned – feel the need to raise the following points in support of the continuation of a Linguistics Program on campus.
While we acknowledge the difficulties which the current financial crisis presents to the College, we feel that the costs of losing a Linguistics Program far outweigh the cost-saving benefits which cutting such a program would provide.
The benefits that come with a healthy Linguistics Program are many, and accrue even to students not taking Linguistics classes. Without a Linguistics Program, the study of languages at Williams takes a great blow, as Linguistics provides a framework for the analysis of language itself, without which languages exist in a vacuum. But Linguistics is also central in disciplines such as Psychology, Cognitive Science, Philosophy, Comparative Literature, and even Mathematics. Linguistics applies Division III logic and reasoning to disciplines considered in the domain of Divisions I and II. As a Liberal Arts college committed to providing students with a holistic education, Williams’ curriculum would suffer greatly from the loss of such an interdisciplinary program.
As a Liberal Arts college competing for students who are also applying to other Liberal Arts schools, Williams needs to remain competitive in order to continue to attract the talented and diverse student body it currently boasts. Schools such as Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr boast entire departments devoted to Linguistics, which not only gives than a recruitment edge, but also supports their extensive foreign languages and literatures program. As proud Williams students, we wish to see our institution leading its peers in all fields, not falling into the middle of the pack.
Some might argue that because of the small number of Linguistics Majors over the years,[1] that the program has limited relevance for the campus as a whole. However, according to Professor Nathan Sanders, roughly 10% of all Williams students take Linguistics classes over the course of their careers.[2] As previously stated, a grounding in Linguistics can be useful for students of all disciplines, regardless of how many choose to major in the subject. At the same time, Linguistics deserves to be recognized as a field in its own right. Although less than 10% of Williams students take German[3], the abolition of the German department is unthinkable, due to the central place of German in the study of Western languages and literatures.
In the light of the aforementioned points[4] we propose the following. To secure the future of Linguistics, we suggest that the College hire a visiting professor for the coming year to teach at least Linguistics 101 and another Linguistics related course. We realize that the College has declared a moratorium on hiring for the coming year, but feel that the extinction of an entire program warrants administrative attention. We do not expect a tenured Professor, or to expand the program beyond its current form. We do expect, however, that the College concern itself with the needs of its current students, and with attracting future students who are committed to a well-rounded liberal arts education.
[1] DATA! (9 majors (Record Article)) à formal citation
[2] MORE DATA!
[3] EVEN MORE DATA!
[4] And in light of the near impossibility of Prof. Sanders continuing in his post after being denied tenure. Since the reasons for this denial are unknown to us, we have little choice to but propose an alternative.
Paragraph 3: It starts with “The benefits that come with a healthy Linguistics Program are many, and accrue even to students not taking Linguistics classes.” and goes on to talk about which other fields at Williams are related to linguistics. However, it says nothing concrete as to the benefits of linguistics itself. We might want to say that it is an acknowledged academic field just as any other and thus it is a viable career. Right now I can’t think of others on top of my head, but there must be such and we need to address them specifically.
Paragraph 4: I don’t like the mentioning of the attractions of Williams when students are applying to it as so important. Rather, I feel like the twist should be that Williams needs a Linguistics program to be a complete liberal arts institution, i.e. that it inherently needs one rather than that it is necessary just to attract students. Furthermore, there might be students who didn’t realize they’d want to study linguistics at the time of applying but might discover a passion for it (e.g. me).
Paragraph 5: I don’t like the way it starts. The beginning of the paragraph usually sets the main focus and do we want to place the focus on what others argue against the program? We need to be positive! Start by saying that at least 10% of students take some Linguistics classes, that for all the years of the program there have been people majoring in it even though extra effort is necessary as one needs to propose a contract major. Say that introductory classes are always overenrolled, etc. Make the positive things about the student interest the focus and then mention that therefore it cannot be regarded as unimportant.