By Faisal Hanif. The government is consulting on student loans that will not involve paying interest – but some young Muslims don't see the point. Muslim students are divided about government moves to introduce student loans that comply with sharia law. While some have welcomed university minister David Willetts' recent announcement of an open consultation on the issue, others feel indifferent or oppose it altogether. More...
By Katrin Kohl. The numbers of students studying languages degrees is at its lowest in a decade – universities must make their academic study more pertinent, argues Katrin Kohl.
The contrast between the plummeting number of undergraduates in modern foreign language (MFL) courses and the soaring number of students in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects gives an insight into the power of policy-makers to influence the fate of academic subjects. More...
By Martin Paul Eve. Report points to 'serious dangers for the international standing of UK research' in humanities and social sciences. Today marks the launch of another report on open access, a topic area that is rapidly becoming saturated. The latest document, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council of England (Hefce) and overseen by the British Academy, specifically focuses on the humanities and social sciences in an international environment. More...
By Vicki Valosik. For strategic, business, and cultural reasons, Arabic programs have grown rapidly at U.S. institutions—even surpassing some traditional favorites. Luke Holzapfel, a European history major in his senior year at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), planned to take Portuguese in college, but when his language of choice was full, he snagged one of the last seats in introductory Arabic instead. Now he is happy for the way things worked out.
"The ability to speak Arabic is an increasingly important skill," says Holzapfel. "The Middle East is a burgeoning area for a wide variety of fields." Although he says employment in the intelligence community is the "white whale" among many Arabic students, he regularly hears of job opportunities at the State Department and with private companies as well. "And, given the growing number of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa," he adds, "Arabic language skills are increasingly critical in humanitarian efforts." Holzapfel, who is now a senior, has added a minor in Middle East studies and says he "couldn't be more thankful" that the Portuguese class was full.
U.S. undergraduate students are enrolling in Arabic courses in record numbers. According to the Modern Language Association (MLA), which conducts foreign language enrollment surveys at the national level, Arabic is by far the fastest-growing language at U.S. colleges and universities. After the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001, Arabic moved for the first time into the top 10 list of foreign languages studied in the United States, growing at a rate of 126.5 percent between 2002 and 2006. By 2009 Arabic enrollment had grown another 46.3 percent, far outpacing the second and third fastest-growing languages, Korean and Chinese, which were up 19.1 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively. As of the most recent MLA survey, which was published in 2010, Arabic was the eighth most-studied language in U.S. colleges and universities, with approximately 35,083 course enrollments nationwide.
Arabic Becoming More Popular Than Some Longtime Foreign Language Favorites
At some universities, such as California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) , Arabic enrollment is surpassing traditional languages. More...
By . This article first appeared in International Educator, the magazine of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Luke Holzapfel, a European history major in his senior year at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), planned to take Portuguese in college, but when his language of choice was full, he snagged one of the last seats in introductory Arabic instead. Now he is happy for the way things worked out.
“The ability to speak Arabic is an increasingly important skill,” says Holzapfel. “The Middle East is a burgeoning area for a wide variety of fields.” Although he says employment in the intelligence community is the “white whale” among many Arabic students, he regularly hears of job opportunities at the State Department and with private companies as well. More...
By . For a few highly qualified students from the Arab world who seek an education at highly elite institutions in the United States but who feel like they could never afford them, there is a way in. A handful of prestigious American institutions admit students regardless of financial need in a practice known as “need blind” admissions. Those who are admitted are supported with generous financial aid. More...
By Brian Mathews. What if Obama paid for your Elsevier subscription? Or rather—what if the federal government covered the expense? Package it as a STEM or innovation initiative– something along those lines. More...
By Brian Mathews. Two years ago this week I visited the Googleplex. It was a mind-stretching experience. I also went to PARC, d school, the lobby of IDEO, Facebook, a handful of startups, and a few accelerators. It was a fantastic and exhausting journey. Google stood out for its blend of hospitality and the sheer shock-and-awesomeness of the place. More...
By David Silbey. Everything is older than you think it is:
We interrupt our blogging of Daniel Deronda to share breaking news: In reading some of Robert Herrick’s poetry last night, I discovered what looks to be the first emoticon! It appears at the end of the second line of “To Fortune,” which was published in Hesperides in 1648.
Here’s a scan of the original printing:
Only, no, probably not. As Ben Zimmer at Slate points out, punctuation inside parentheses was fairly common in the 17th century, and there are numerous examples of colons appearing just before a parenthetical close. More...
By David Silbey. I wanted to reiterate the point in this post.
“Free speech rights” and “the First Amendment” are not synonymous with each other. The First Amendment is the American legal manifestation of the right to free speech, but the right exists outside the United States and existed before the first amendment. The Founding Fathers were well aware that they were protecting an existing right with the First Amendment rather than establishing a new one. More...
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