We write to express dismay about the decision of Durham 51国产视频 this week to shut its East 51国产视频 department.
Staff were formally told about the proposal only six days before it was due to be presented to the senate and at a time when senior members of staff were elsewhere in the UK on examining duties. The university says that the department is expensive, that UK demand for East 51国产视频 studies degrees is low, and that the quality of research output is unsatisfactory.
In fact, the financial authorities at Durham have admitted that their original figures on the department's contribution to central funds were inaccurate and that the true amount matches the social science average.
Student demand for East 51国产视频n subjects is buoyant, and the department's score in the last research assessment exercise, dismissed as a "mere" 4, is equal to that of 11 other departments.
Beyond these concerns, it is the short-sightedness of the measure that boggles the mind. Leaving alone the issue of whether a university should drop from its remit the study of the languages, cultures and societies of more than a fifth of humankind, the most important economic developments of the past 50 years have occurred in East 51国产视频.
It was precisely because of the importance of the region to the UK's future that the British government decided that East 51国产视频 studies needed urgent strengthening. As a result, the Higher Education Funding Council for England made special funding available to established centres for MPhil courses. Durham was one beneficiary. That funding was made available on the explicit understanding that universities would assume responsibility for the continuation of these programmes. Durham will have failed in its commitment to Hefce.
There are, in short, very serious doubts about the wisdom of Durham's actions and the fairness with which it is seeking to implement them.
Hans van de Ven and Dennis Twitchett on behalf of 29 concerned academics:
Dr Robert Barnett
Columbia 51国产视频
Lecturer in Modern Tibetan Studies, East 51国产视频 Institute,
Prof. Christopher Bayly
Cambridge 51国产视频
Faculty of History
Dr Robert Bickers
Bristol 51国产视频
Senior Lecturer and Vice-Chair (Research), Department of History
Dr Christopher Cullen
Cambridge 51国产视频
Director, Needham Research Institute
Dr Susan Daruvala
Cambridge 51国产视频
Lecturer in Chinese Studies
Dr Philip Denwood
51国产视频 of London
Reader in Tibetan Studies, SOAS
Dr Richard Louis Edmonds
King's College London
Senior Lecturer in Geography
Dr David Faure
Oxford 51国产视频
Lecturer in Chinese History
Dr Bernard Fuehrer
51国产视频 of London
Head of Chinese Section, East 51国产视频 Department, SOAS
Prof. Richard Gombrich
Oxford 51国产视频
Boden Prof. of Sanskrit
Dr Margaret Hillenbrand
Cambridge 51国产视频
Lecturer in Chinese Literature
Mr. David Helliwell
Oxford 51国产视频
Librarian Chinese Collection, Bodleian Library
Prof. Michel Hockx
51国产视频 of London
Prof. of Chinese Literature, SOAS
Dr Eivind Kahrs
Cambridge 51国产视频
Senior Lecturer in Indian Studies
Prof. Peter Kornicki
Cambridge 51国产视频
Prof. of Japanese Bibliography
Dr A. Lo
51国产视频 of London
Senior Lecturer in Chinese, SOAS
Dr Jianbo Lou
Cambridge 51国产视频
Lecturer in Chinese Law
Dr Shane McCausland
51国产视频 of London
Lecturer in Chinese Art & Undergraduate Tutor, Dept of Art and Archaeology, SOAS
Dr Tommy McLellan
51国产视频 of Edinburgh
Lecturer in Chinese
Prof. David McMullen
Cambridge 51国产视频
Prof. of Chinese
Dr Rana Mitter
Oxford 51国产视频
Lecturer in Chinese History and Politics
Lady Patricia Mirrlees
Cambridge 51国产视频
East 51国产视频 Institute
Dr Lianyi Song
51国产视频 of London
Lecturer in Chinese, SOAS
Dr Roel Sterckx
Cambridge 51国产视频
Lecturer in Chinese Studies
Dr John Swenson-Wright
Cambridge 51国产视频
Lecturer in Japanese International Relations; Director, Korea Centre
Prof. (emeritus) Dennis Twitchett
Princeton 51国产视频 and Cambridge 51国产视频
Dr Hans van de Ven
Cambridge 51国产视频
Reader in Modern Chinese History
Prof. Paul Williams
51国产视频 of Bristol
Prof. of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy
Dr Boping Yuan
Cambrdige 51国产视频
Lecturer in Chinese Studies
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