Harvard University will offer a Tagalog language course, which is reportedly the fourth most spoken language in the country, beginning the academic year 2023-2024.
According to the university’s official publication The Harvard Crimson, Harvard does not have a Southeast Asian Studies department but it offers a course on the Philippines, which is a survey course on the history of the region.
Jorge Espada, associate director for Southeast Asia Programs at the Harvard University Asia Center, noted the lack of Southeast Asian studies and language course offerings based on such resources in the school.
“Most Southeast Asian languages are taught as part of a tutorial format within the Department of South Asian Studies,” he said as quoted in the report.
“We wanted to see if we could have these languages taught by a preceptor-level position to professionalize the instruction, to make it more consistent, and to generate enthusiasm for it at Harvard,” he added.
The report also noted that the university’s Department of South Asian Studies will hire three instructors to teach Tagalog as well as Bahasa Indonesian and Thai languages for the upcoming academic year.
“We’re very excited and hopeful that these positions will be a game-changer in terms of the Asia Center’s long-term mission to build Southeast Asian studies at Harvard, as well as the university’s engagement with the region,” said Asia Center executive director Elizabeth Liao in the report.
The teaching positions will last for three years and renewable up to five more years.
According to the university’s website, the instructor will teach five Tagalog language courses per year. Harvard is looking for a native speaker or has near-native fluency in Tagalog.