Middlebury Language Schools Begin Summer Sessions in June
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — This month marks the beginning of the Middlebury Language Schools’ summer sessions, known internationally for their intensive immersion approach to the teaching of language and culture. A milestone in Language School history also will take place this summer when the German School, which held its first session in 1915, celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Each summer, the Language Schools offer three sets of summer sessions for foreign languages at the Middlebury College campus location. Mills College in Oakland, California, serves as the home base for the entire Arabic and Italian Schools and offers additional sessions in Spanish. Middlebury at Mills was established six years ago in response to the increasing demand for admission to the Middlebury Language Schools. The first sessions begin at Middlebury on June 20 and at Mills on June 13.
The Middlebury campus offers eight-week sessions in Chinese, Japanese, and Russian; seven-week sessions in Portuguese, French, German, Hebrew, and Spanish; and six-week sessions for graduate-level Chinese, Russian, French, German, and Spanish. At the Mills College campus, there is an eight-week session in Arabic; a seven-week session in Italian and Spanish; and six-week sessions for graduate programs in Arabic and Italian. This year for the first time the German and Italian Schools also will offer three-week graduate level workshops at Middlebury and Mills respectively.
Since 1915, more than 49,000 students from all walks of life—including more than 12,000 advanced degree holders—have attended one or more of the Language Schools. Corporate executives study side-by-side with writers, journalists, doctors, lawyers, missionaries, government officials, and diplomats. Undergraduates and graduate students from Middlebury College and other institutions also attend the summer sessions to fulfill language requirements or complete degrees.
Prior to her death last year, philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis funded the 100 Fellowships for Peace: Investing in the Study of Critical Languages, which continues to grant 100 scholarships to cover tuition, room, and board for a summer of study in any of six critical languages and related global issues. The initiative, which began in 2007, is intended to challenge Middlebury College and the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a graduate school of Middlebury, to use the institutions’ combined expertise in language acquisition and policy studies to recruit and train future potential peacemakers.
At both Language School locations under the guidance of a total of about 300 Language School faculty members and staff from colleges and universities throughout the world, students of all ages and nationalities live on campus, totally immersed in their target language. Students live, learn, and interact in the language they have come to study, and all agree to abide by the Language Pledge®, a formal commitment to speak the language of study and no other for the entire summer session. The Language Schools also host cultural events that are often open to the public.
More information about the Middlebury Language Schools is available online at http://www.middlebury.edu/ls/, or contact Director of Institutional Collaboration and Marketing Tim Page at 802-443-5396 or tpage@middlebury.edu.