It’s no secret that language study enrollment has been declining for decades—a result of translation software that makes communication easy and the growing worship of U.S. students at the vocational altar of STEM.
“Language programs are often the first to go” amid budget cuts, said Nancy Tittler, who has taught Russian at Binghamton University in New York since 1980 — and recalled with a chill when, in 2010, SUNY Albany eviscerated its language offerings. “It’s seen as a commodity we don’t need.”
