Students give first language capstones after alterations

After the anger caused by their change, do students still mind?

Amanda Swanlund

mast news reporter

Students majoring in the Department of Languages and Literatures received an e-mail April 9, 2007 notifying them of new requirements for the language capstone that would be effective in the fall. The capstone would change from two credits to four and would be completed in English instead of the target language.

Many students were displeased with this decision. In fact, a Facebook group called “Restore Language and Literatures Capstone” was created upon hearing the news. This allowed students the freedom to voice concerns they had with this new change with each other.

Senior Jen Van Belle, a student majoring in French was in France when she heard the news.

“At first, it was more of just confusion than anything else,” said Van Belle of her reaction. She spoke to other French majors and found that it didn’t make sense to many students. One major disappointment was that the students weren’t consulted first before making the decision.

Van Belle is currently taking her capstone this semester. The capstone requires applying critical theory to a piece that is done in the target language.

“I don’t foresee me benefiting from something like this in the future,” Van Belle said. “I would rather learn more about how to write and read in the target language.”

Though many are upset about this new change, there are some benefits to the modification.

“I’m getting to know people in other languages. It brings new perspectives,” Van Belle said.

Students will have different standpoints on this issue while working on their capstone. It has its benefits and its drawbacks. However, because it is a requirement to graduate, foreign-language majors don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. Whether the changes will stay remains to be seen.