JHU foreign language enrollment increases
At Hopkins, requirements for the International Studies major - the most popular undergraduate major in the arts and sciences - keep students enrolled through upper-level classes.
"The best way of encouraging language study is to tie it in with what students want to learn. We made a series of propositions according to which languages could be tied to majors and the model was of course IR," Nichols said.
"I would say that at least two-thirds of my [introductory Arabic class] is made up of IR majors," said Caroline Berger, a freshman International Studies major.
"At Hopkins, Chinese and Arabic have increased so much because they open the doors to high-need jobs. Students are taking the language for career opportunities, not necessarily because they love the culture, the food or the music," said sophomore Michael Arnst, who is currently enrolled in German, Portuguese and Swahili.
An intitiative to help students majoring in maths and sciences would have helped them to find lab internships in foreign countries. While Nichols said this could have been arraigned and there was interest, the idea was eventually dropped.
"Our colleagues in the sciences just felt that there were already so many requirements that this would just add one more level. They weren't sure they could spare the students for a full semester," Nichols said.
Korean is also a growing language, both nationally and at Hopkins. Originally the language was only offered at the University during Intersession, but grew to become a full program in 2006.
"We added one course at a time and found that as soon as we opened up a course, students would sign up. Enrollment has been steady ever since," said Chunwoo Kang, the University's sole Korean professor.
"The best way of encouraging language study is to tie it in with what students want to learn. We made a series of propositions according to which languages could be tied to majors and the model was of course IR," Nichols said.
"I would say that at least two-thirds of my [introductory Arabic class] is made up of IR majors," said Caroline Berger, a freshman International Studies major.
"At Hopkins, Chinese and Arabic have increased so much because they open the doors to high-need jobs. Students are taking the language for career opportunities, not necessarily because they love the culture, the food or the music," said sophomore Michael Arnst, who is currently enrolled in German, Portuguese and Swahili.
An intitiative to help students majoring in maths and sciences would have helped them to find lab internships in foreign countries. While Nichols said this could have been arraigned and there was interest, the idea was eventually dropped.
"Our colleagues in the sciences just felt that there were already so many requirements that this would just add one more level. They weren't sure they could spare the students for a full semester," Nichols said.
Korean is also a growing language, both nationally and at Hopkins. Originally the language was only offered at the University during Intersession, but grew to become a full program in 2006.
"We added one course at a time and found that as soon as we opened up a course, students would sign up. Enrollment has been steady ever since," said Chunwoo Kang, the University's sole Korean professor.
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