Bennington College to Host Middlebury Language Schools
Beginning in the summer of 2020, Bennington College will be hosting several of the Middlebury Language Schools on campus. The change was made possible by a new agreement between Bennington College and Middlebury.
Bennington College President Mariko Silver and Middlebury President Laurie Patton announced the agreement today on the Bennington campus.
“The necessity of language education, of cultural proficiency, and of bridge-building across borders is more urgent today than ever,” said Bennington College President Mariko Silver. “This arrangement is a mutually-beneficial opportunity for Middlebury Language Schools to serve their students and for Bennington to welcome more people to our campus and to the region during the summer.”
“I’m delighted that Middlebury will be partnering with a neighboring school with such dynamic and thoughtful leadership,” said Middlebury President Laurie Patton. “Our new agreement allows for operational collaboration between two institutions that share values and goals, as well as proximity.”
The Middlebury Language Schools are comprised of 11 immersive, intensive, and well-respected summer programs, collectively educating about 1,500 students each summer. After a decade operating some of its summer Language Schools at Mills College in Oakland, CA, Middlebury will consolidate all 11 of its schools in Vermont beginning with the 2020 summer session.
This arrangement will allow Bennington College to welcome more people to campus and to the Bennington region during the summer. As part of the agreement, Bennington College students may also apply for scholarships to attend the Middlebury Language Schools and for positions working at the language schools on both campuses.
More information about which languages will be taught at the Bennington campus the first summer will be available before the 2020 partnership begins.
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college in southwestern Vermont that has distinguished itself as a vanguard institution within American higher education. It was the first to include the visual and performing arts in a liberal arts education. It is the only college to require that its students spend a term—every year—at work in the world. Bennington students work intensively with faculty to forge individual educational paths around their driving questions and interests.
Middlebury
Middlebury College, founded in 1800, is a Vermont-based undergraduate educational institution known for its leadership in language education, international studies, and environmental studies. The college offers its students a broad curriculum embracing the arts, humanities, literature, foreign languages, social sciences, and natural sciences.
In addition to the undergraduate college, Middlebury operates the Middlebury Language Schools, which celebrated their centennial in 2015 and educate 1,500 students each summer; the Middlebury C.V. Starr Schools Abroad in 16 countries and 37 cities around the globe; the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, a leading international professional graduate school based in Monterey, California; the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English, founded in 1920 and offering summer classes in Ripton, Vermont; Oxford, England; and Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences in Ripton, Vermont; and the Middlebury School of the Environment in Kunming and Dali, China.