As the faculty senate decides the future of language requirements at Brandeis University, The Hoot wanted to provide a student perspective and give our insights as to the value a strong education in a foreign language offers. Language is a unique area of study that permeates our day-to-day lives and encourages us to consider the world beyond our doorstep. According to the Brandeis website, as of Fall 2025, there are 1,171 “international students and scholars” on our campus, with 110 countries represented. If we aim to be a university that appreciates diversity of perspectives, lessening the language requirement sends the opposite message, setting the tone that seeking knowledge from outside the English-speaking world is not necessary. This also suggests that other languages do not play a part in our studies outside of specifically dedicating ourselves to said language. Anyone who studies literature, art history, or a form of cultural studies would disagree, since proficiency in another language allows you to deepen your understanding of people and works from various walks of life and eras past. This misunderstanding is somewhat unsurprising, considering the continued increase in administrative focus on expanding the sciences while scaling back the liberal arts.
Over the past several years, there have been fears among the Brandeis community that the administration is planning to emphasize STEM programs in order to compete with other, higher-ranked colleges and universities—at the expense of the humanities. In 2023, PhD programs in the music department were cut at the same time that Brandeis was planning to build a massive new science lab building. The plans for the lab were scrapped, but this latest move is sure to raise red flags among Brandeis students and staff in humanities programs. Above all, it feels hypocritical that Brandeis, which advertises itself so heavily as a liberal arts school, constantly emphasizing the value of interdisciplinary learning, seems intent on repeatedly impeding its own humanities programs. It’s hard to imagine Brandeis placing similar handicaps on computer science or pre-med requirements. Does the administration really want to send the message that some fields of study are “more equal than others”? We hope not.
It is no surprise that there is a great deal of empirical research surrounding the mental and psychological benefits of language learning. Foreign Language Annals, the journal of ACTFL, published a study in 2019 to showcase general data about the positive effects of second-language learning on the brain from research conducted in the preceding seven years. Their results show that learning a second language at a young age improves everything from executive functioning to critical thinking. These benefits are nice, but the thing that Brandeis’ administration should be considering more than anything else is one particular theme of study: employability. Brandeis has been on a big employment kick recently, with the addition of a second transcript of microcredentials. The paper references many studies that highlight how learning new languages improves employability by improving communication skills, providing a deeper understanding of the world, or even increasing one’s cultural competency within the workplace.
For students who already speak a foreign language, Brandeis allows them to test out of the requirement. This can be done with a high enough A.P. score or a test administered by the Brandeis language departments. Students are also able to test into higher-level language courses if they have taken foreign language classes in high school. This means that students who take language courses in high school are able to finish their Brandeis Core requirement earlier, so students who plan to come to Brandeis are encouraged to take extra language courses in high school or learn a language on their own.
Like any other skill, languages are something that you need to practice, or you’ll lose some of your ability to use them. Requiring students to take three semesters of a language means that students are enrolled in a language course for just under half of their time at Brandeis. This amount of time is enough that even if students take all of their language classes in their first three semesters, they are likely to retain most of their ability to communicate in that language after graduation and into their careers. If students only take two required language courses, however, a student who chooses to take them in their first two semesters will go three full years between the last time that they had to use the language and their graduation. This will lead to a greater loss of the ability to communicate in that language. If students do not retain the language that they learned, then the time spent learning the language was largely wasted, a result that both students and Brandeis should wish to avoid.
The alteration to the language requirement would greatly hinder students’ ability to study abroad. Many of the Brandeis study abroad programs have language requirements. For countries that primarily speak French, Hebrew, or Spanish, the university requires students to take up to a level 20 course before applying. Italian-speaking programs require at least one semester of the language to qualify. While these requirements would fall within the altered standard, the change would lessen the push for students to complete the requirements sooner. If you can complete all language requirements in a single year, students will no longer be forced to start their programs by Junior year at the latest. In addition, many individual programs have higher expectations for language completion. The Brandeis Study Abroad website itself states, “Please note that many programs on our Approved Program List require at least one year of college-level language study and many require a minimum of two years of college-level language proficiency or the equivalent.” Two years of language programs is a higher expectation than the university’s current requirement; however, when students consider studying abroad in sophomore or junior year, they will likely start looking at programs at least a semester before applying. This allows students to complete an additional semester of the language of the country they are applying to, something which would not be possible if they were required to take an additional year of a language.
Without starting a coup d’etat, which you would understand if you had a proficient amount of French education, maintaining confidence in our language programs and their ability to enrich our lives beyond the academic experience is fundamental for any higher-level institution. The fact that Brandeis, an R1 university, seems to be neglecting an ever-increasing amount of empirical evidence—as well as the voices of students and staff—that validate the importance of expansive multilingual education is, frankly, unacademic.
