posted on Dec. 15: Two name changes in Faculty of Humanities

Senate has approved two recommendations from the Faculty of Humanities changing the official name of one of its departments as well as that of the School of Art, Drama & Music (SADM).

The Department of Modern Languages will now be known as the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics.

Until recently, comparative literature, modern languages and linguistics all came under the same department. Since comparative literature has become a separate program, it seemed appropriate to rename the department for the two remaining units, says humanities dean Daniel Woolf. “Linguistics is one of the strongest research areas in the department, and this will give it more profile,” he says.

The School of Art, Drama & Music (SADM) will now be known as the School of the Arts (SOTA). While generic, the new title is in keeping with the practice of other institutions, Woolf told Senate.

The former title has always been a bit of a mouthful, and some have complained that the acronym was peculiar and unsightly. When the multimedia program joined the school, it was apparent that adding this new component to the existing name would make it much too cumbersome. At the same time, retaining the current title was not an option as it no longer reflected accurately the breadth of the artistic units the school now embraces.

The school is not merely an amalgam of units, says Woolf. “It's operating in an interdisciplinary way, and the new name conveys that more effectively.”