Among all the exciting new changes coming to Stevens in the near future, lies the ever-growing language program offered within the College of Arts and Letters. With three Spanish courses and one French course offered this semester, and French 2 joining the curriculum in the spring, the language courses have come a long way since its origins in the fall of 2014 when Zachary Balog was hired as the Spanish professor and Foreign Languages Coordinator at Stevens.
During spring 2014, there was a survey sent out about foreign languages offered at Stevens, and the demand for the program was shockingly higher than anticipated. “There was an overwhelming response from the students […] The response rate to an email poll normally is pretty low, almost insignificant. This was the absolute opposite,” recalls Professor Whitney, who teaches French. She mentions that a good portion of the students even said they would take the class for no credit. Considering all the work that goes into creating schedules and the workload that the students already have, taking on an extra course, especially for no credit, reflects the magnitude of the desire of the students to take foreign language courses.
In addition to the language courses offered at Stevens, both Professors Balog and Whitney are actively trying to incorporate cultural aspects into their language courses. They host weekly “salons” on Thursdays where students interested in learning more about French or Hispanic culture meet in Peirce 202, or the “CAL Lounge.” The Thursday salons alternate between Spanish and French every week. The College of Arts and Letters also hosts a foreign film series, where they show foreign films on a Friday once per month throughout the semester in order to help the students immerse themselves in different cultures.
In order to engage the students in Spanish culture, and as a part of the upcoming Foreign Language Education month in November, Professor Balog is holding Paella Night on Tuesday, November 3 from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Skyline Suite on the 4th floor of the Howe building. While enjoying various different types of paella, which is a rice dish from Spain, there will be two speakers originating from Spain to share more about their culture with the attendees. For those interested in cooking, there will be a demonstration on how to properly prepare paella in Hayden Lounge that same day from 6 to 7 p.m.
In the future, both Balog and Whitney hope to be able to offer minors in foreign languages at Stevens to further enrich the education of the students and allow them to expand their horizons. In order to establish this minor in the future, Balog and Whitney look to develop upper-level courses that focus on foreign literature and would count towards humanities credits. The potential minor would also help students interested in studying abroad to have a much fuller cultural experience, immersing them in their chosen language while on their journey abroad.
As a final reminder, Balog and Whitney would like to share that the dates published in last week’s issue of The Stute for Spanish 2/3 and French 2 placement testing are not the only dates in which students are able to take these placement exams. In order to accommodate as many students with an interest in foreign languages as possible, they are willing to work with the schedules of the students in order to find more convenient times for them to take the tests.
