By Emily Smith, Editor-in-Chief
Beginning this semester, Armstrong is offering a new online French major. Students can easily double-major especially if they are already seeking a Bachelor of Arts degree.
The English department has been working toward providing this option for two years now and associate professor of French, Dr. Dorothee Mertz-Weigel, claims that many students have expressed interest in the program. “Over the past few years, we have lost several students who transferred to other universities so they could major in French,” Mertz said.
Several students have already switched their degree to French or added it to their curriculum for a double major. Some alumni are even returning to study the language.
On-campus courses will be provided every semester but many will be taught online through the eMajor program. All institutions that are part of eMajor have aligned course offerings, course numbers and course descriptions, so that students can take on-campus classes at their institutions and complete their degrees with the online offerings as well. However, the degree can be done completely online if preferred. Professors from the UGA institutions that are part of this affiliation teach the online classes.
Even if one chooses to complete their major online, on-campus tutoring is still available. “Armstrong students can still benefit from the Language Lab on campus that is staffed with language tutors whose native languages are either Spanish or French,” Mertz said. “In the future, eMajor will also offer online tutoring.”
Dr. Mertz explains that there are many benefits to studying French. “In a world that is more global every day, the importance of knowing another language to find a job—a career—is essential,” she says. “It is one of the official languages of the United Nations, one of the two official languages of the Olympic Games, and the language of the future!” Not to mention, the language is spoken on all continents by about 300 million people worldwide.
It is expected that more languages will be offered through the eMajor program such as German, Italian, Chinese and Arabic. When this occurs, Armstrong could potentially use eMajor to offer programs in these languages as well.
Those interested in the program should contact Dr. Dorothee Mertz-Weigel at dorothee.mertz-weigel@armstrong.edu or at eMajor@armstrong.edu
