By: Hannah Rickard
As many of you may already know, there has been talk of creating designated language floors in some of the Moho dorms. Did you know that Amherst, Smith, UMASS (Amherst), and Hampshire each have language dorms? Here’s a little bit about them:
- Amherst College
Language floors at Amherst are part of Amherst’s student suggested “theme” houses. These language floors include a French House, a Spanish House, a Russian House, and a German House. Amherst also has cultural houses: The Charles Drew Black Cultural House, The Asian Culture House, and La Casa--the Latino Cultural House.
Here’s a snippet taken from Amherst’s website, showcasing the positive effects of language floors!:
"The French House is one of the best kept educational secrets on campus. The residents are so busy enjoying themselves, they don't always realize that they're perfecting their French." -- Paul Rockwell, Professor of French
2. Smith College
Smith has a French House on campus called Dawes, which was initially started in
1941.
Here’s what the Smith residential life staff has to say about Dawes:
“In Dawes, students are encouraged to speak French and all house meetings are conducted in French.The house subscribes to a variety of French magazines and newspapers. Even house flyers and signs are translated into French in keeping with the theme.”
3. UMASS Amherst
UMASS offers six languages, one per floor, in a dorm called the Thatcher House. The six languages include Chinese, French, Italian, German, Japanese, and Spanish!
Here’s what UMASS-Amherst has to say about the Thatcher House:
“Each of the language programs...occupies a floor which includes its own classroom/lounge. Students meet there to socialize in the language, and regularly during the week for a specially-designed two credit conversation/culture course. An experienced graduate student from the Language Department teaches the course and organizes social and cultural activities.”
4. Hampshire
While Hampshire doesn’t have specifically designated language dorms, it does have some great sociocultural and religious dorms, which it calls Identity-Based Housing and Intentional Housing Communities.
Here’s some information on these living spaces:
“Identity-based housing includes various group living situations with a common identity such as race, culture, or sexual orientation. Current identity-based spaces include: International Students, Kosher, Latino/a, Queer, Students of Color, and Women of Color.”
“Intentional housing communities are living spaces in which the residents have chosen to come together around a particular area of interest that will contribute to and cultivate the campus' culture of learning. They work together with a faculty or staff advisor to educate themselves and the larger community about their area of interest. Students who elect to reside in these spaces can expect to gain meaningful relationships with one another, lasting connections with staff and faculty, access to greater campus resources, and sense of pride in their community.”
Here are some of the current Intentional Housing Communities at Hampshire right now:
“Kosher Mod, Prescott 82: A Kosher living space. All students welcome to apply, regardless of religious affiliation.
“Spiritual Womyn's Mod, Greenwich 36: A place for self-identified Womyn that promotes and heightens spirituality. A collective space to support and guide spiritual paths and encourage the mindful growth of the Hampshire community. Female and/or female self-identified continuing students welcome to apply.”
“Women's Empowerment Mod Enfield 66: A safe and supportive space actively to engage with and challenge the normative expectations placed on women. Female and/or female self-identified continuing students welcome to apply.”
Would you like to see language designated floors at Mount Holyoke? We want to know your thoughts concerning this proposal! Did any of the housing options from the other five colleges strike your interest? Please take this short survey to help us to understand what you think of this proposal: Survey: Language Dorms at MHC.
