In 2004 as a dean in the Division of Humanities at the University of Otago I had the task of facilitating the creation of a department of languages and cultures.
At that time there were departments of German and French, neither large enough to be viable, and programmes in Chinese, Japanese and Spanish which were well supported. Some years earlier the Russian programme had become very fragile, and the then vice-chancellor Graeme Fogelberg had responded to the situation by closing it down.
He was following the manufacturing principle that if a model or line is not selling well, it should be discontinued. This was a reflection of the corporatisation of the university that was then under way, a direction proposed by government that challenged the traditional view of a university as a community of scholars pursuing and sharing knowledge for the mutual and often unexpected benefit of all.
In the new way of thinking, a university was merely a unit in the education and research industries which must respond to market forces.
Not enough customers for Russian degrees? Then close the programme down.
In 2004 we looked at the situation in a different way — not from a market-forces industrial perspective, but from a family/whanau perspective. If a member of the family or whanau is struggling, then the other members of the family have a responsibility to support him or her, because everyone in the family has something to offer, whatever their circumstances.
The stronger members of the languages family at that time (Chinese, Japanese and Spanish) could help the weaker ones (French and German), because French and German language and culture have so much to offer to all of us.
We took it for granted that to understand European culture it is necessary to understand its constituent parts, and anyone wishing to study or work in or simply live in Europe can only fully grasp its values and practices by learning at least one of its languages and cultures.
It isn’t a matter of how many students wish to enrol in degrees in languages — that is the consequence of government policy in secondary education, and not a measurement of the value of those languages and cultures. French and German needed to be supported for the good of the whole, to maintain the richness of the humanities and of the university as a world leader in teaching and research.
Market forces only measure the cost of things, not the value of things.
In 2023 German is again in a fragile state, and it is disappointing to see the university revert to the industrial model, proposing to close it down rather than seeking ways to support a language and culture that is at the core of Western culture. Rather than seeing German as a valued member of the university whanau, the decision seems to be to kick it out of the whanau.
That is particularly ironic, since the university is proposing to change its logo to reflect a deeper connection with Maoritanga, which places high value on kotahitanga, the idea of working together and supporting each other, because everyone has value.
Curiously enough, there is a German word, gemeinschaft, which means a community that works together in mutual support. There is also a word, gesellschaft, which means a corporation based on indirect interactions and impersonal roles. Perhaps the university should decide which of these it wants to be. (For guidance in how to pronounce these important words, it will be necessary to consult the German programme in the department of languages and cultures.)
— John Drummond is a emeritus professor at the University of Otago’s School of Performing Arts.
