Additionally, it's one of the only popular prototype-oriented languages. I think having to teach some of the less-than-sane parts of javascript can be a distrac

Additionally, it's one of the only popular prototype-oriented languages. I think having to teach some of the less-than-sane parts of javascript can be a distraction from whats important in a 100 level course, but for a higher level course that teaches different paradigms, it makes sense to teach Javascript.