CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that the department is only considering restructuring and that a meeting between the College of Arts and Sciences associate dean for graduate studies and SLS graduate students has been rescheduled. The original version of this story was mistakenly published early and incompletely.
IU’s College of Arts and Sciences will consider merging the Linguistics and Second Language Studies (SLS) departments over the next two years.
Both departments formed a committee in October to explore the details of the potential merger, which includes six members: Linguistics Director of Undergraduate Studies Ann Bunger, Linguistics Professor Kenneth Dejong, Linguistics Director of Graduate Studies Thomas Grano, SLS Professors Debra Friedman and Yucel Yilmaz and SLS Director of Undergraduate Studies David Stringer.
“Neither of our departments suggested this,” Rex Sprouse, SLS professor and director of graduate studies, said. “I think both of our departments would be very happy just maintaining the status quo. That’s not an option for us.”
Many universities around the United States have cut language programs in response to declining enrollment and funding. West Virginia University cut all but two of its language programs last year, and the U.S. Department of Defense withdrew funding for 13 of its 31 programs in May.
John Hanson, College of Arts and Sciences executive associate dean, wrote in an email to the Indiana Daily Student that a decision to merge the departments has not been made.
He also said the College Policy Committee, which consists of 11 College of Arts and Sciences faculty members who monitor polices and representation, could consider the merger in 2025. The CPC would canvas faculty and student opinions, conduct voting, organize a committee and produce a proposal.
“The reason the College is encouraging discussion of a merger is that one unit highlights IU’s strengths in this area,” Hanson wrote. “Second Language Studies was in Linguistics before it became a separate department two or so decades ago: we are asking if it is time to reunite. The College also knows that linguists in other College departments might be interested in joining one large department focusing on linguistics and second language studies. One unit would perhaps be stronger than the sum of its parts.”
IU’s SLS department was founded in 2006 and focuses on language structure, acquisition and the use of a nonnative language, according to its website.
“We’re known as a relatively new, highly innovative department,” Sprouse said.
He said the department balances both the scientific study and acquisition process of language, which he said is unlike any other program.
“We’re not embarrassed to be linguists,” he said. “We’re not embarrassed to be language teachers.”
Sprouse also said he thinks the two departments are “excellent” on their own and have a clear structure and identity. A potential merger, he said, could improve them.
“A larger department might bring possibilities for new synergy and maybe more visibility,” he said. “We’ll see how that works out.”
IU’s Department of Linguistics, founded in 1948, is one of the oldest in the U.S. It offers over 70 languages, which is more than any other university in the country.
Sandra Kübler, Linguistics professor and chair, said she thinks restructuring brings opportunities for faculty and students.
“By merging the two together, you’re bringing them together and making a more cohesive department that’s covering all the basics,” she said.
Kübler said she thinks the two departments’ respective undergraduate offerings are “pretty complementary.”
SLS offers an undergraduate certificate and minor, two master’s degree programs and one doctoral program, while the Department of Linguistics includes four undergraduate programs, two minors, two master’s degree programs and several doctoral programs.
She also said, however, she has concerns about the graduate programs, particularly if they merge into new programs.
“We will have to figure out how that is going to work,” she said. “How separate will we keep them or if we’re trying to merge them and come up with new structures that may integrate both of the departments better.”
SLS professor Isabelle Darcy has taught at IU since 2007 and said the two departments are closely connected.
“We’re already working really close,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a nice, organic way to have synergies and to have collaborations, maybe even collaborations with other people from the department that we don’t yet anticipate.”
She also said SLS faculty have a lot of questions about the potential merger, particularly about administrative duties, research opportunities and academic advising.
“Everybody has different questions,” she said, “but I think, overall, the dominant feeling is we’re all really optimistic about this.”
Darcy said she is looking forward to learning more and hopes it is an “equal merger.”
“We’re not going into this merger with closed eyes,” she said. “I think everything will be neatly laid out. That’s my hope.”
Sprouse said there is still a lot of uncertainty about the potential merger, especially from prospective students.
“Unfortunately, I’m already — as director of graduate studies — receiving emails from around the world to the effect ‘I understand they’re closing your program,’” he said. “That is not the case.”
He said the College of Arts and Sciences issued a one-year moratorium for the department in October, meaning SLS cannot accept new graduate students until fall 2025.
“We’ve been assured that one year from now, we’ll be able to start admitting graduate students again because, by that point, we’ll have a clearer sense of what the new structure might be like.”
Naser Alhujailan is an SLS doctoral student from Kuwait. He is a sponsored student, meaning he is supported by Kuwait’s government while he completes his degree.
He said he learned of the potential merger in Sprouse’s class and received an email from the SLS department two days later.
“First reaction was ‘what’s going to happen with us?’” he said. “‘Are we still going graduate with this program?’”
Alhujailan said the SLS graduate students had two scheduled meetings with Elizabeth Dunn, College of Arts and Sciences associate dean for graduate studies, but both were cancelled — the first due to a family emergency and the second due to illness.
“We are still in the dark with a lot of things,” Alhujailan said. “We don’t know if it’s going to affect us actually or not.”
Dunn wrote in an email to the IDS that the meeting has been rescheduled.
“I was extremely sorry to have to keep cancelling the meeting with the SLS students, because it is really important,” Dunn wrote. “I’m back at work, so we have rescheduled this meeting, and it will take place.”
Küebler said the potential merger will only impact future students and current students will receive the degree they are working toward.
Sprouse agreed and said it is too early to tell what future students’ programs will look like, but he is confident IU will remain “a center for language study.”
“For me, I have been here now for 30 years, and I am a kid in a candy shop,” he said. “I love to study languages. I love understanding how languages change over time, how people acquire languages as second languages, the structure of languages. This is a great place to do that.”
