Comments on: Trojan Traurigkeit

By: Bianca

Bianca — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:58:06 +0000

German’s in danger up here, too, which is pretty ironic for a university named after Humboldt.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:35:03 +0000

I’d second charlotte’s observation, adding that almost every German I’ve ever known under the age of 30 speaks excellent English (come to think of it, the only people I’ve ever known of that age who speak German and not English were Czech).

My current favorite new loanword from English is in Germany’s version of “America’s Next Top Model”: “Germany’s Next Topmodel” - two English loanwords glommed into a Zusammensetzung.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:58:32 +0000

I am stricken by this news. I had to write immediately to my former German prof. who got earned her PhD. at USC years before she taught me. She was one of the most awesome teachers I’ve ever known.
I was a transfer student at USC and when I arrived I didn’t NEED to take any more German classes, but I participated in a wonderful program called “The German Semester.” Authors and poets who wrote in German–H.C. Artmann, Peter Turini, Friedrich Duerrenmatt, Jurek Becker–stayed at the university for weeks teaching, giving readings, hanging out with the students. A mini film festival of German expressionist cinema was running at the same time. These experiences were really the highlight of my undergraduate education! I’ve got to write a letter. USC in their current issue is bragging about how many foreign students they have (7115 this year) a goodly number of whom are from Germany. Ach du liebe. . .

By: charlotte

charlotte — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:02:55 +0000

Well, I may be biased (and German by birth and my beautiful red passport), but could this have anything to do with what has seemed to me an increasing autonomy of the American postsecondary educational system? It seems to me that second-language requirements are being dropped all over the academic place and that, with ongoing cultural colonization (in the past 14 years, we’ve added a lot of new–American-English–words to the German language), such studies are no longer needed? In other words, will the study of European languages and cultures turn into a study of “dead” (as in “irrelevant”) languages and cultures?

Well, this German certainly hopes that won’t be the case. Abwarten!

By: Al

Al — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:18:51 +0000

The article does indeed say that basic German language courses will still be offered.

Even at UW-Madison, there are fewer sections of each level of German language being offered than just two years ago (used to be around 7 or 8 a semester, now around 4 to 5). And we have one of the top 10 German departments in the country, not to mention that a number of high schools in WI still offer it, instead of just French and Spanish.

By: Douglas, Friend of Osho

Douglas, Friend of Osho — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:36:21 +0000

How sad that one of America’s better universities has seen fit to further the notion that higher learning is now strictly high-end job training. It will not bode well for this world if I must take my five-year-old daughter to a museum to see people who went to college strictly for the sake of what it would do for their minds. I am further resolved to enjoy and abet this period of my child’s life. Never again will learning for the fun of it be as natural for her. Shame on USC.

By: Kate

Kate — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:22:30 +0000

Is it possible that USC will continue to offer some instruction in German without maintaining a stand-alone department? The inability to major in German literature by itself doesn’t seem like such an enormous loss to me (and the job market for German PhDs is horrendous even by humanities standards), but it seems bizarre that a university could maintain programs in history or comp lit, for example, without providing any options for German training.

By: SamSeaborn

SamSeaborn — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:25:45 +0000

The department clearly doesn’t get the Zeitgeist… German is becoming particularly popular among US teens these days…

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/arts/music/20toki.html

By: Hugo Schwyzer

Hugo Schwyzer — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:07:25 +0000

Lester, thanks for visiting! I’ll let my mother know.

It is a sad thing. I’m excited to see so many new departments created in the modern university, but not happy when institutions rolling in dough turn it into a zero-sum game.

By: Lester Hunt

Lester Hunt — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:05:29 +0000

Hugo, You don’t know me but I knew your father (also your mother) years before you were born. That’s so sad about USC’s German department! What’s this crazy world coming to?