What, They Don't Already?

From "Dramatic Plan for Language Programs," Inside Higher Ed, Jan 2, 2007, a quote from Michael Geisler, a panel member who is dean of the language schools and study abroad and a professor of German at Middlebury College (yay Middlebury!).

Every graduate program should include a course in applied linguistics, he said, focusing on the latest advances in understanding of cognition, identity, bilingualism, and other topics.

They don't already? That's frightening.

I guess thinking back to my program at Middlebury, I did these things, but I'm not sure if they were required or not. I took translation, linguistics, and composition classes which dealt nicely with these issues.

The MLA report says that language programs should become more like area studies programs.... what will happen to language-resistant area studies programs?