Appreciating Civilizations Through Language

I am appalled at the faculty decision to eliminate intermediate language proficiency for classics majors, leaving aside a requirement for any knowledge of Greek or Latin at all. There is unlimited space to expand a curriculum without diminishing standards in other departments. If eliminating these requirements is indeed for “having new perspectives in the field that will make the field better,” this anachronistic approach is more likely both to worsen it and the broader social purpose of this “reform.” The first, by diminishing an appreciation of the civilizations of those ages within the framework of both their language and indigenous perspectives, the second by diminishing the broadening of our understanding of cultures and identities this reform is intended to promote.