Nili Gold's class on Hebrew literature always appealed to a niche audience.
The students - typically 12 to 15 each semester - had to have determination to enroll in a course taught entirely in Hebrew. But the class fulfilled a distributional requirement, which Gold said made it easier for them to justify taking such a specialized class.
The new curriculum for the College Class of 2010 changed that. But Gold and her colleagues fought the new policy, and now classes like this one will still get students closer to graduation.
The new curriculum has no distributional requirements, so the Hebrew class - and other foreign-literature courses like it - would only count for students' majors, minors and electives when the curriculum was first announced.
Worried that students would lose incentive to take these courses, Gold started talking to other professors, and she realized that they felt the same way, leading them to successfully lobby school officials.
"I'd like people who come to Penn knowing [foreign] languages to be able to use" them, Gold said.
This group of classes, collectively titled "Literatures of the World," runs the gamut from courses taught in French and German to ones taught in Hebrew, Arabic and Portuguese.
These courses now fulfill the Arts and Letters requirement for College students. Cross-listed under "COLL 200," their sizes are still limited to 15 to 20 students.
Gold first suggested the idea to Roger Allen, chairman of the Near Eastern Language and Civilizations department, last April - after the College had announced the new general curriculum.
"We live in an era when people who know more than one foreign language [and culture] are going to be in a much better position in American society," Allen said.
The faculty members behind the proposal initially approached College Dean Dennis DeTurck and Director of Academic Affairs Kent Peterman for approval.
Both Peterman and DeTurck were enthusiastic about the plan and eager to see it come into fruition, German professor Simon Richter said.
"The main motivation is to broaden students' and faculty members' perspectives, both intellectually and internationally," DeTurck said.
The General Requirement Committee was the last group of officials to review - and approve - the proposal.
The committee, made up of professors and students, oversees curriculum requirements and is the go-to group for anyone seeking curriculum changes.
College administrators say their own role in this particular project was mostly peripheral.
"My personal opinion doesn't matter a whole lot," Peterman said.
Advanced registration for the spring semester is currently under way, and enrollment numbers won't be finalized until spring classes begin in January. Until then, it won't be known whether the changes have affected enrollment in the classes.
