The Justice

To the Editor:

In response to your "Language classes to increase" article (Nov. 25 issue): A few years ago, Brandeis threatened to end the teaching of ancient Greek and ramp up the study of non-Western cultures. As a former Latin language student at Brandeis, I bristled at such a proposal and made my opposition clearly known to Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe, even contributing a small amount of money to the Classics department in memory of my late Brandeis Latin professor to make the point. Now, in this most "global" hour in the history of education, the University again seeks to water down a vital aspect of study by hobbling the foreign language requirement itself! I share the shock of Brandeis' language department heads at the notion of English "culture" courses satisfying the foreign language requirement. The purpose of foreign language education is to introduce new forms of language expression and thus introduce new cultures in a far more effective, more intimate way than any native-language instruction could possibly achieve. Learning a different language involves exposure to different forms of thought. I could almost say that this is the essence of a liberal education. It puts the "universal" in "university." I hope that the Brandeis community will not allow itself to be cheated out of its education rights in a major way by letting this proposal see the light of day.

-Paul Trusten '73

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