UC Berkeley Back on Track?

June 25, 2008 | Category: China

According to one source with UC Berkeley’s Group in Asian Studies, the university has at last decided to restore funding to its East Asian languages department. In other words, one of the United States’ foremost Asia-focused research institutions has decided not to let itself become irrelevant at a time when Asia is capturing damn near every other headline on damn near every international news page.

As some will recall, Berkeley announced earlier this year that it would have to cut its Chinese, Korean and Japanese language classes by a total of 1500 students. In real terms, that meant East Asian language classes would be off-limits to all non-majors. The reason had to do with state funding cuts in the range of $30-40 million. Students and staff launched a frantic campaign to keep the classes available, a campaign that now appears to have succeeded.

According to an email I received yesterday (subject line: “Victory!”), the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture will be funded at its 2007/08 level for at least the next academic year. I haven’t been able to suss many other details of the deal so far. There’s nothing about it on the university website’s press release page. The “Fighting EALC Budget Cuts at UCB” Facebook page and various student-run blogs set up to protest the cuts likewise have yet to mention the decision. But a “Budget Update Coming Soon!” notice printed in red on the EALC website at least suggests the decision is not just rumor.

Assuming it’s true, I imagine many hundreds of people in Berkeley have just heaved a big, sweaty sigh of relief. What the department really needs is an increase in funding. As I’ve noted before, Chinese classes at Berkeley are woefully oversubscribed, the instructors criminally overburdened. But this is public education we’re talking about, so a hearty congratulations to all the people who fought this battle.

The odds were not in their favor.

[Image: Graphic representation of UC Berkeley's new CV Staar East Asian Languages Library, from Save East Asian Languages and Korean Studies at UC Berkeley.]

Tags: language study, public education, UC Berkeley

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About the Author

Josh Chin is a freelance journalist based in Beijing. He also once worked as a sous chef in a French restaurant in San Francisco. Neither job has been good for his health.