We acknowledge and appreciate the complex historical, financial, logistical, and political conditions under which volunteer leaders in the AATG work. Still, we can no longer accept the notion that any and all efforts at diversity are virtuous, especially when these are not conceived collaboratively with Scholars of Color and with other marginalized and marked scholars whom the organization wishes to represent.

The inherent value of defending the teaching of “foreign languages” in a so-called monolingualist United States is not sufficient justification for our representative organizations’ ambivalence and acquiescence toward ethnonationalism, settler colonialism, racist ideologies and uncritical reproduction of spaces and practices that create a hostile environment to marginalized people. Nor does the “foreign-language teaching setting” give justification for the patterns of cultural appropriation—of hip-hop, coffee culture, and klezmer, for instance—the likes of which have been shown to be unethical, as well as pedagogically unsound, in other areas of US American education. Celebrating ethnonational identity with flag-and-castle-emblazoned promotional materials, with a little multikulti on the side, is too high an ethical price to pay for a boost in enrollments.

We are convinced this is a misguided decision, which significantly weakens humanities education at McDaniel College. It also comes at a perilous time for the humanities. McDaniel College has boasted a commitment “to excellence in liberal arts and sciences.” Yesterday’s announcement sent a clear message that the leadership of McDaniel College, contrary to its mission, is actively dismantling core subject areas in the humanities and thus supports the national and international attack on humanist education.

This Unbehagen concerned the cultural content being taught, that is, the image of “German” culture conveyed to students in the thematic organization, text selection, and pedagogical scaffolding of beginning- and intermediate-level textbooks, but also in broader scholarly discussions of foreign language curriculum design encountered in publications, conferences and teaching workshops in the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany.