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3 hours ago
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In response to the shocking news predicting up to 10,000 imminent job losses across the UK higher education sector (Quarter of leading UK universities cutting staff due to budget shortfalls, 1 February), we write to flag up a fact that the article largely misses: the degree to which arts and humanities subjects are bearing the brunt of these cuts.
While the article singles out the loss of nursing courses at Cardiff University and the closure of chemistry courses across the country, it mentions the humanities just once in passing. Last week it was ancient history, modern languages, music, religion and theology at Cardiff University. Not so long ago, it was subjects including English, history, music and theatre at Goldsmiths, and art history, music, philosophy and religious studies at the University of Kent, to name just two. And with each passing week more arts and humanities courses and departments are cut.
The end result – beyond job losses for staff – is an increase in cold spots across the country for these subjects, with a consequent loss of opportunity, and potential social mobility, for local students. For future employers, there is the loss of a strong pool of graduates with the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that arts and humanities degrees deliver so well and that employers value highly. For society at large, there is the loss of the social, cultural and economic benefits that engagement with these subjects brings. And for universities, there is the danger of reputational damage exacerbating their economic difficulties, potentially leading to the comprehensive loss of one of the nation’s most valuable assets. Now is the time for decisive action by the government.
Prof Thea Pitman and Prof Emma Cayley
Co-chairs, Arts and Humanities Alliance
Surely if a university wanted to study the totality of the human experience, as opposed to just being an expensive technical college, it would support the teaching of our past (ancient history), our beliefs (religion and theology), our modern languages, our culture (music), and our health (nursing). It would also not combine Stem subjects into blobs like the “Data Science Academy” (Cardiff University to cut 400 staff and drop subjects including nursing and music, 28 January).
For Wales’s flagship university to do this is particularly outrageous. The university will leave unstudied the place of Wales in ancient history, its rich religious heritage, its music, and the place of Welsh among other languages. It will weaken the NHS in the land of its birth. Some subjects may not seem to contribute much on a spreadsheet, but they all contribute to a “university”, as we once understood the word.
It is not Cardiff’s fault that the UK government has caused a catastrophic drop in foreign student numbers but, with cash reserves of £188m, the university should ride out the storm. If it has to make cuts, it should do so cautiously and protect learning above all else. It should also probably not pay its vice-chancellor many times the salary of its lecturers, but that’s an issue that goes beyond Cardiff.
Dr Ronan McLaverty-Head
Malvern, Worcestershire
I also work at a large Russell Group university where there are going to be similar levels of cuts to those at Cardiff. I recently attended a finance seminar explaining these research and staffing cuts: the vice-chancellor was kind enough to join the seminar from his chandelier-lit hotel room in India, so clearly the cuts aren’t affecting everyone.
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