October 30, 1998

Cornell's Modern-Languages Department Faces Attrition; Graduate Students Might Get Chilly Reception at MLA Meeting

By ALISON SCHNEIDER and COURTNEY LEATHERMAN

Members of Cornell University's department of modern languages are dropping like flies, and some people suggest that the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Philip E. Lewis, is the one wielding the swatter.

Last month, the dean called the department "not viable." It was founded three years ago, to centralize the teaching of introductory language courses. But the department, Mr. Lewis says, has been