College Adds Portuguese to Its Language Arsenal

Author: Campus Editor in Chief

The Spanish Department has announced plans to offer Portuguese language coursework in the coming academic year. This broadening of the language curriculum is in step with the establishment of Portuguese as the Summer Language School's ninth program, slated to begin in the summer of 2003.

Michael Colvin, who recently received his doctorate in 20th century Latin American narrative from Temple University, will teach Introductory Portuguese in the fall, winter and spring terms. His one-year appointment carries a rank of Visiting Assistant Professor, and he will be housed within the College's Spanish Department.

Professor of Spanish and Spanish Department Chair Roberto Veguez said Colvin would also teach a section of Spanish 305, a survey of Latin American ideas and cultures. If Portuguese language coursework gathers sufficient enrollment, a professor may ultimately "be given over completely to Portuguese," said Veguez.

Associate Professor of Political Science Jeff Cason, the current director of the International Studies major, said that the Latin American Studies faculty had been eyeing an "expansion to Portuguese" for years, largely motivated by its interest in Brazil.

"Since Brazil is by far the most important economy in Latin America, and it plays a crucial political role in the region, it seemed to many of us that having a real Latin American Studies program would require teaching the language that is spoken by 40 percent of the region's population," Cason said.

He added that many Latin American Studies students "would like to leave Middlebury trilingual in English, Spanish and Portuguese" and that "this will certainly be doable now."

According to Rutgers University, Portuguese is currently the fifth most widely spoken language in the world. Two hundred million speakers are spread throughout the Lusophone world, stretching from European continent to former colonies in Latin America and Africa.

Cason said that student interest played a significant role in the administration's decision to move ahead with the program.

"There was also substantial student interest, expressed through letters to the administration and the organizational work of a number of students who pushed a 'Portuguese agenda' with the administration," Cason commented.

Associate Dean of the Faculty Michael Geisler recalled meeting with a group of students last year who "were quite articulate and gave us a very good argument in favor of introducing Portuguese." In light of the planned Summer Language School in Portuguese, Geisler said the administration sought to initially provide "minimum language support during the academic year."

The term position will enable the administration to gauge student interest in Portuguese and then evaluate whether to expand program offerings, said Geisler, who is also a professor of German. "Normally we prefer not to have a beginning sequence of language and then, if [students] are interested, they go nowhere," he said, but speculated that the summer programs could meet demand for advanced coursework.

He said it was "far too early to say" whether the academic year offerings would increase in coming years.

Cason said that the future of Portuguese language study at Middlebury hinged on "student demand and continued faculty interest in this direction, which I am sure will be forthcoming."

If there is demonstrated interest in the field, Cason said the College might offer courses in Brazilian literature and culture as early as the 2003 to 2004 academic year.

Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., are the only schools comparable to Middlebury that also offer Portuguese, Cason reported, making Middlebury's foray into Portuguese language instruction "very unusual" among its peer institutions.