Williams Language Club
In service of the Williams College Language CommunitySpace Proposal
Proposal for the Creation of a Williams College Language Club (WCLC) Space
Submitted to: Ed Epping, Director: Williams College MCC
We, the Williams College Language Club, having created ourselves in the response to the issues raised by the denial of tenure to Professor Nathan Sanders, and the danger to the Linguistics Program which this termination produced, and having furthermore established that the need for the creation of an active community of language-speakers, learners and scholars is an essential goal of our organization,[1] have found that the possession of a space designated for the use of this community would greatly further its cohesion, continued existence, sense of purpose, and growth. We therefore believe that the WCLC has need of a space for the following reasons:
Firstly: Language-learning requires specific tools, such as a computer with multi-language capabilities (ex: Chinese, Arabic), dictionaries, grammatical reference works, thesauruses, etc. These tools are to be found in the Language Lab, located in the NAB; however, this space is not a 24 hour space, and the hectic nature of student life makes it difficult to always fit in language-study with the Lab’s operating hours. Ideally, the language-learning community needs a 24 hour space for this sort of work.
Secondly: Studying abroad is a huge part of many language-learning experiences on campus. However, information on study-abroad is hard to come by. A once-a-year general Study Abroad fair is held, as are once-a-year info. sessions given by various departments. If a student cannot make these sessions, they lose out on valuable study abroad information. Information is also kept by the Center for Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures (CFLLC), but is inaccessible to students outside of normal, 9-5 operating hours. Again, the nature of student life requires that this information be available on an as-needed basis. A 24-hour WCLC space, wherein this information could be stored, would be extremely valuable to interested students.
Thirdly: As stated in our Mission Statement, one of the activities in which WCLC hopes to engage is language mentoring, in which upperclassmen/experienced language-learners help underclassmen/beginning language learners in choosing courses for their major, navigating study abroad experiences, and providing general advice for language-learning at Williams. A WCLC space would be a perfect place for these students to meet.
Finally: A WCLC space would also be an ideal place to hold study-skills workshops that focus on study-skills useful for language-learning. The space could also play host to Academic Peer Tutor sessions in the languages, for which WCLC resources (such as language-compatible computers and dictionaries) would be useful.
Should the MCC consider providing the WCLC with such a space in Morley Circle, we wish to point out that such an arrangement could be mutually beneficial. It is a stated goal of the MCC to make Morley Circle a “destination” on campus, a place to be, rather than a place to write-off and avoid. Increasing the amount of student traffic in the area – which a WCLC space would certainly do, as a good amount of students are engaged in language-learning on campus – would raise awareness of Morley Circle in the broader student consciousness, serving the needs of both the MCC and the WCLC.
[1] For elaboration of these two points, please see our attached Mission Statement.
