Hundreds of millions of people may speak Russian, but at Bowdoin, the language is dying. Enrollment in the College's Russian department has dwindled since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but a couple of faculty members and a small number of students keep the program alive.
According to Jane Knox-Voina, the chair of the Russian department, up to 18 first years enroll in a Russian course in a "good year."
"The highest we ever had was 37 [first-year students], and that was before the fall. This year we shrank down to six first years," Knox-Voina said.
"We had a really bad year last year," she added.
Last spring, seven seniors graduated as Russian majors, and four are expected to this year. There are two full-time tenured professors in the department and one part-time teaching assistant.
As fewer students elect to take Russian, the department has felt increasing pressure to raise enrollment, according to Knox-Voina.
"The College can't really say outright [that the department will be cut], because we have two tenured people, but they have expressed strong concern because of the small enrollment levels," she said. "And I am in total agreement with them?one of my most burning concerns is finding ways to increase enrollment."
Danny Vicario '11 took Spanish throughout high school, but chose to switch to Russian at Bowdoin. The small size of the department frustrates Vicario because the selection of classes is slim.
"You don't have much of a choice in what professors you want or what classes you want to take," he said. "I wish that there was a larger course offering, but it's limited to four or five classes a semester, and I only qualified for a couple of those classes," Vicario said.
Vicario, whose Russian class consists of three students, added that the small class size provides a more challenging classroom environment.
"It's not a class where you can just sit there and hope the teacher doesn't call on you," he said. "You are forced to participate, which I think is a good thing. One out of every three questions my professor asks, I am going to have to answer."
Knox-Voina recognizes the perks of small class sizes but is very concerned about the small number of students who decide to take Russian.
"It is excellent to have small classes, and my first-year students are fantastic, but the school will not allow us to hire more tenured professors until enrollment is up?economics comes first," Knox-Voina said.
The Cold War may be over, but Vicario said Russia remains a country that Americans should not overlook.
"It's still an important region, and there isn't a downside to taking Russian," Vicario said.
While Knox-Voina acknowledges that Chinese and Arabic have been rightly labeled the languages of the future, she insists that Russian remains a relevant language.
"I don't think that you should scrap everything else when you have to add on," she said. "China is very important, but that is not to say that Russia is going to disappear and not play a big role."
Knox-Voina said the department has worked to integrate Russian history and culture into other departments' curriculums in order to spark more interest in the study of Russian. The department also offers more courses in English translation than is typical of a language department.
Russian is not the only language program with a modest number of students. This semester, only 25 students are enrolled in Japanese courses.
There are three faculty members who instruct in Japanese language Curriculum, which is part of the College's Department of Asian Studies.
Natsu Sato, a lecturer in Japanese, said that there are four Japanese courses offered each semester, none of which are taught by tenured professors. One professor holds a tenure track position and the other two hold lecturer positions.
Like with Russian, each Japanese class consists of a small number of students. However, the intimacy of small classes is amplified in the Japanese program because in the first two years of study, classes meet for two more hours each week than language courses typically do.
"Students and the instructors get to know one another in a way that is unique," Sato said. "By the end of the first year, we know so much about everyone and there is a great deal of comfort in being part of such a community."
Sato emphasized that Japan has the second-largest economy in the world today, which makes competency in the language invaluable. However, she said that the study of any language is important.
"Some of our students are studying Japanese because they love anime," she said. "Some might think that it is not an academic enough reason, but the most important thing is to get the door opened. Students often end up finding many more things on the other side of their door through the study."
Andrew Steltzer '08, who has taken several Japanese classes and is currently in the fourth-year level, said that Japanese language classes supplement history and anthropology classes that focus on Asia.
"Even with all outside concerns aside, Bowdoin offers a number of excellent courses in Japanese government, history, literature, and other cultural studies that need the language courses to complete the overall program," Steltzer said.
"I think that understanding the language is key to gaining a better understanding of all these fields," he added.