Students 'upset' after university cuts Yiddish program
By: Danielle Chazen
Issue date: 3/10/10 Section: News
The University of Maryland's unprecedented budget crisis prompted administrators in the Center for Jewish Studies to cut the Yiddish program, which has existed for 15 years.
Students and community organizations expressed disappointment in the decision to eliminate the program after 2011.
"I was really upset to hear the Yiddish program at Maryland was going to be cut because I really wanted other students in the future to have the same opportunity as me to study with Miriam Isaacs who is so passionate about the language and has done so much to keep it alive," said Miri Friedman, sophomore letters and sciences major.
Organizations such as Yugntruf, were upset over the decision and are comitted to protecting the future of the Yiddish language across the United States. Yugntruf's leaders are organizing its next Yiddish break at the university from April 16 to 18, said Dr. Miriam Isaacs, a visiting associate professor in Yiddish language and culture at the Center for Jewish Studies.
Hayim Lapin, director of the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies, said he is considering creative solutions to continue offering Yiddish at the university. However, the university no longer has the funds to continue teaching the variety of classes focusing on the literary aspects of the language, such as Yiddish in the Americas.
"There were warning signals of budget cuts but it came as a shock when I found out in October," said Isaacs. "One other faculty member decided to leave the university, which left enough money to fund the program for one more year."
Isaacs has worked to keep Yiddish alive at the university for the past 15 years. She has taught classes including Intensive Elementary Yiddish, Yiddish Theatre, Film and Popular Culture and Yiddish in the Americas.
"Dr. Lapin made Yiddish an intensive one-year program so Yiddish could satisfy students' language requirement, yet Yiddish has not been treated like a modern language," said Isaacs. "Yiddish is never listed as one of the languages taught at the university and really should have the status of other languages."
Students and community organizations expressed disappointment in the decision to eliminate the program after 2011.
"I was really upset to hear the Yiddish program at Maryland was going to be cut because I really wanted other students in the future to have the same opportunity as me to study with Miriam Isaacs who is so passionate about the language and has done so much to keep it alive," said Miri Friedman, sophomore letters and sciences major.
Organizations such as Yugntruf, were upset over the decision and are comitted to protecting the future of the Yiddish language across the United States. Yugntruf's leaders are organizing its next Yiddish break at the university from April 16 to 18, said Dr. Miriam Isaacs, a visiting associate professor in Yiddish language and culture at the Center for Jewish Studies.
Hayim Lapin, director of the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies, said he is considering creative solutions to continue offering Yiddish at the university. However, the university no longer has the funds to continue teaching the variety of classes focusing on the literary aspects of the language, such as Yiddish in the Americas.
"There were warning signals of budget cuts but it came as a shock when I found out in October," said Isaacs. "One other faculty member decided to leave the university, which left enough money to fund the program for one more year."
Isaacs has worked to keep Yiddish alive at the university for the past 15 years. She has taught classes including Intensive Elementary Yiddish, Yiddish Theatre, Film and Popular Culture and Yiddish in the Americas.
"Dr. Lapin made Yiddish an intensive one-year program so Yiddish could satisfy students' language requirement, yet Yiddish has not been treated like a modern language," said Isaacs. "Yiddish is never listed as one of the languages taught at the university and really should have the status of other languages."
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