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Letter from the President oft the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL)
Dear Rector Gabler, President Soiron and Dean Hacki-Buhofer: I am writing you in my capacity as President of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) and as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR).I have learned that the University of Basel is considering the elimination of its Slavic studies program.This is wrong for Basel and wrong for Europe. Basel's Slavic studies program, one of the best in Switzerland and certainly one of the best in the Europe, took decades to build:it will not be easily rebuilt.Enrollments in Slavic studies courses are strong.A decision to cut funding for Slavic now would cut down an important peak of excellence at Basel.The Slavic program at Basel has an international reputation, including its excellent Slavic collection and the highly regarded Slavica Helvetica.The Slavic faculty at Basel is productive, both in terms of scholarship and in terms of the number of students awarded degrees.One example of the program's scholarly impact on international cultural studies is the highly successful "Literatur und Kommerz" conference held in the fall of 2001 which led to the publication of a special volume of the journal Novoe literaturnoe obozreniededicated to new economic criticism.This new approach to criticism was so well received in the American academy that not one but four panels of scholarly papers were given on this topic at recent American Slavistic conferences (AAASS and AATSEEL).An international working group on this topic has been created and a conference on this topic will be by Northwestern University in May 2004.The strength of the program is rooted in its ties to the city's museums and archives, including the Stravinsky Archive, the Fritz Lieb Collection, and the Tsvetaeva Archive.I understand that these are difficult budgetary times for higher education, but a university curriculum with integrity and coherence cannot be subject to the fluctuations of fashion; it must offers students of all generations the intellectual challenges of all its constituent disciplines. Discontinuing the Slavic studies program is wrong for the University of Basel:The study of Slavic languages, literatures and cultures helps students understand one of the most important sources of European languages and civilization.Students at Basel need the opportunity to study Slavic languages and Slavic linguistics to supplement their understanding of Romance and Germanic languages.Slavic literatures and cultures have had a tremendous impact on European civilization, especially in the last two hundred years. Russian culture alone — with its rich legacy of 19th and 20th century literature (Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Akhmatova, Brodsky, Pasternak), art (Repin, Chagall, Kandinsky, Popova, Malevich), music (Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich), theater and film (Stanislavsky, Chekhov, Tarkovsky, Sokurov) — is of critical importance for understanding modern Europe.The University of Basel, in particular, has an obligation to sustain the intellectual traditions with such strong connections to the city of Basel, e.g., the study of Stravinsky and Tsvetaeva.In order for Basel students to understand the major trends of European and American art, music, literature, theater and film, they must understand Slavic cultures. Without a full program in Slavic studies, Basel students are deprived of instruction in a critical part of the history of western civilization and European culture.This is central to any European university's core mission.Cutting the Slavic studies program at the University of Basel means damaging one of only three critically important Slavic programs in all of Switzerland. Discontinuing the Slavic studies program is wrong for Europe:Slavic languages are the key to strengthening European unity and Switzerland's place in the larger European context.Slavic languages have enormous strategic, cultural and economic significance. Growing trade between west and east and increasing cooperation in law enforcement require linguistically and culturally sophisticated partners.Worldwide efforts to fight terrorism, develop new sources of natural resources, including gas and petroleum as well as diamonds, uranium, platinum, silver, copper and lumber, make it imperative for more people in Western Europe to learn the languages and cultures of Eastern Europe. By continuing to support a full Slavic studies program, the University of Basel will be educating the next generation of international experts, as well as the next generation of Slavists, taking advantage of resources and expertise already in place.Discontinuing the program now would be a disaster for Basel's students and ifor Basel's reputation as a center for international education. I know that these are challenging times:scarce resources are becoming even scarcer. At my own university we are also making difficult choices in the face of reduced financial support from our state government.However, I urge you to consider all the options you have.Cuts to larger programs are often more easily absorbed than cuts to smaller programs.Events of the last few years have painfully underscored the importance of international education in the United States.A report published just recently by the American Council on Education (www.acenet.edu) points out “the disappointing level of commitment to international learning” (“Few Students Get an ‘Internationalized Education, Report Says,” Alice Gomstyn, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 7, 2003, p. 12).I urge you to take whatever steps you can to preserve the quality of the excellent program in Slavic studies at the University of Basel in order to maintain your university's excellent commitment to international education. If you have any questions about this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Benjamin RifkinPresident, American Association of Teachers of Slavic & East European Languages Professor, Slavic Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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