Clarion 1987-05-01 Vol. 62 No. 19

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The Clarion
VOL. 62 NO. 19
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
1 MAY 1987
Linguistics dept. languishes; enrollment blamed
by Paul Morley
It is likely that the Linguistics
program at Bethel will be
dropped as of next year according to Dean and Vice President
Dwight Jessup. This decision is
contingent, however, on the
status of Dr. Don Larson, professor of Linguistics and Anthropology. Professor Larson,
who is presently on sabbatical,
recently suffered a heart attack
and is considering early retirement.
Dean Jessup said that "at the
present time it is not likely that
Dr. Larson will be here next
year," but he emphasized that
Larson's plans are not concrete.
The loss of the Linguistics
program would mean a lower
number of course offerings in
the new Cultural Studies program. This has obvious implications for the new curriculum.
Many of the people in the area
of Linguistics, Anthropology,
and Sociology are concerned
about the impact that the loss
of. this program will have on
Bethel's ability to train people
effectively for cultural ministry.
Senior Linguistics major Jim
A young fisherman takes advantage of a beautiful spring day at Lake Valentine.
Photo by George Wessman.
Matcuk voiced concern over
the loss of Linguistics saying
that the field of Linguistics is
necessary to those who want to
"have a lasting effect for Christ
in other cultures," and to
"preach a pure gospel" instead
of "the gospel of western civilization."
Senior Linguistics major Ken
Jerzyk said that his initial reaction to the prospect of a Linguistics cut was a bitter one. "It's
like all that I've been working
for has lost value," said Jerzyk.
"I thought this was supposed to
be a missions-oriented institution."
Professor of Linguistics William Smalley saw the loss to
Bethel in terms of "the potential
of the department and the people that have been here" to train
people for cross-cultural ministries. Dean Jessup, however,
pointed out that the linguistics
major did not have the level of
enrollment necessary to make
it a financially viable option.
Furthermore, he pointed out
that more people study linguistics at the graduate, rather than
the undergraduate level.
The question of why the Linguistics program failed to attract enough students is somewhat controversial. Dr. Smalley
said that with the TESOL
(Teaching English to Speakers
of Other Languages) program,
the administration was "unwilling to advertise."
"I find it strange that we
couldn't attract ten to twelve
new students per year," Smalley said. Smalley tendered his
resignation recently because as
he put it, "it became clear to me
that the administration was
waiting out the tenured people
to make changes. I didn't want
to stay and mark the time for
another year's salary."
Ultimately, Smalley feels that
it's a "lack of administrative
imagination" that caused the
collapse of the department "in
the deepest sense—even though
they haven't done anything directly," Smalley commented.
Dean Dwight Jessup admitted
that a lack of advertising may
have played a limited role in the
department's low enrollment.
"Maybe we haven't advertised
as well as we could," said Jessup. "But our Admissions people aren't so quick to conclude
that spending $20,000 in this
way to get 20 students is worthwhile."
Tom Johnson, dean of admissions and program development said that most of Bethel's
advertising funds are spent on
promoting the institution at
large. Two exceptions to the
rule of institutional advertising
arc the Nursing and Christian
Ministries programs. "You must
understand that Nursing was a
high-risk, must-do program,"
Johnson remarked. "The risk
was substantial because we had
committed eight full-time
faculty."
Linguistics, see p. 2
Bethel hosts Society of Christian Philosophers this Fall
Bethel College will be host to
the Society of Christian Philosophers Midwestern Regional
Meeting October 8-10, 1987.
The Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) was instituted
in April of 1978 in a meeting
held in conjunction with the
Western Division of the American Philosophical Association.
Professor William P. Alson of
Syracuse University was elected the first president of the
organization.
The Society was formed to
promote fellowship among
Christian philosophers and to
stimulate study and discussion
of issues which arise from their
joint Christian and philosophical commitments. Membership
in the Society is open to any
philosopher, not necessarily
professional, who considers
himself or herself a Christian,
and is not restricted to any particular philosophical orientation or branch of Christianity.
Meetings of the Society are regularly held in conjunction with
the various divisions of the
American Philosophical Association, the Canadian Philosophical Association, and the
American Catholic Philosophical Association. Independent
regional conferences are also
held.
The SCP publishes the quarterly journal, Faith and Philosophy. The Journal is designed
primarily for articles which
focus on issues from a Christian
perspective, for discussions of
philosophical issues which
arise within the Christian life
and world view, and for articles
from any perspective which
deal critically with the philosophical credentials of the Christian faith. Although a large portion of its contents usually fall
within the branch of philosophy called "the philosophy of
religion," the journal is not specifically devoted to that branch
of philosophy.
The SCP welcomes participation in its meetings by philosophers who are not presently
members and who wish to become further acquainted with
the Society. The SCP likewise
invites participation in its meetings by philosophers who do
not share the Christian commitment of its members but
who are interested in exploring
the philosophical issues raised
by Christian philosophers.
Membership in the Society is
not restricted to those who are
employed in teaching philosophy or to those who hold advanced degrees in philosophy.
There are currently three divisions of the Society, the Eastern Regional Division, the Western Regional Division, and the
Midwestern Regional Division.
The Midwestern Regional Meetings were first held at Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa. Last fall,
Dr. Mel Stewart was invited to
read a paper at the Midwestern
Regional Division. At the business session, it was suggested
by the Officers of the Society
that a more central location for
the Midwestern Division should
be sought. When Dr. Stewart
proposed that Bethel College be
the host institution for the
Midwestern Regional Meeting
in 1987, the response of the
Membership  was  unanimous
It is hoped that the meeting
will attract about a
hundred philosophers from
all over the Midwest.
affirmation.
The membership of the three
divisions of the Society is currently near 800, and it is hoped
that the 1987 Midwestern Division Meeting will attract about
a hundred philosophers from
all  over  the  midwest.  Better
than 500 colleges and universities in the midwest will receive
announcements of the Meetings.
The Conference opens on
Thursday evening, October 8 th,
with a keynote lecture by a distinguished philosopher. The
next two days includes concurrent sessions of submitted papers and the remaining lectures
by the distinguished philosopher. Invited speakers for the
Conference will be announced
in the fall. On Saturday evening,
October 10th, the Department
of Philosophy of Bethel College
is planning a banquet for Bethel
College Philosophy Alumni(a)
and for current majors and
minors in philosophy at the
College.
Those interested in attending
the Conference sessions and/or
the Bethel College Philosophy
Alumni(a) Banquet please contact Dr. Mel Stewart, P.O. Box
#54, or call 638-6344.