Gordon Finlayson's website

The Future of Philosophy in the UK.

The Centre for Modern European Philosophy is, apparently, moving to Kingston University. Read about this here. It is good to see that Kingston University, unlike Middlesex, values its humanities, values philosophy and values the quality of its research. It is very unfortunate that not all the members of CRMEP will be hired. Let us hope that they manage to find employment soon. Good luck. And best wishes from me and all my colleagues and studets at Sussex.

Here are some websites and blogs to keep your eye on in the next few months, as the HE sector in Britain gradually feels the force of the recent swingeing cuts and the idiocy - IDIOCY - of Labour policy.

Sussex Stop the Cuts

Future Thoughts

Save Middlesex Philosophy

The Storm Breaking on the University

Just look at what has recently transpired and Kings College London and Middlesex University. Of course its probably only incompetence - the unforeseen consequences of legislation that ministers thoughtlessly stampeded through parliament. But it looks like more than that. It looks like a conspiracy. Do you remember this brilliant statement by none other than the Labour Minister for Higher Education, Bill Rammell, in the good old days when there was a Department for Education and Skills  in 2006 - its now the Dept for Business, Industry and Skills, fronted by Peter Mandelson:

"Mr Rammell told the Press Association more analysis was needed on the figures, but a first reading showed students picking the subjects they think will help them get jobs.
"There is some evidence that students are choosing subjects they believe will be more vocationally beneficial to them," he said. "What you might describe as subjects which students see as being really non-vocational, like fine art, philosophy, classical studies, have seen big reductions. "That's why I say an initial reading of figures suggests to me that there is some evidence that students are choosing subjects they think are more vocationally beneficial." He added: "If that's what they are doing I don't see that as necessarily being a bad thing," he said. Asked if there was any merit in students taking courses in history and philosophy, Mr Rammell said: "Of course there is and if people want to do that I am not going to stop them." Maybe he was not going to stop them in 2006, but by introducing policies that lead to the closing down of philosophy departments, Peter Mandelson sure as hell is.

Higher Education in the Noughties has been completely reshaped, between 2001 and 2010. The direction of change can be easily tracked from the names of the government departments. There was the Department for Education and Skills 2001-2007. This was merged with the Department for Trade and Industry in 2007 to form the Department for Industry, Universities and Skills (DIUS). In 2009 this was rolled up into the Department for Business, Industry and Skills, (BIS) currently headed by Peter Mandelson. The changing title of the Government department responsible for Higher Education, indicates the change in Mission that New Labour introduced for HEI’s. First the reference to Education was eliminated, then the reference to Universities.

An open letter to Michael Driscoll (Vice-chancellor), Waqar Ahmad, (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise), and Margaret House (Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic), University of Middlesex.

We believe you are responsible for taking the decision to close down all the Philosophy Programmes at Middlesex and the renowned Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy. We are dismayed to hear about this decision, which is not only regrettable, but unwarranted and misconceived.

We understand that the Dean, Professor Esche, told staff that the Department’s high research reputation makes no ‘measurable’ contribution to the University. This is untrue. In financial terms, the Department’s QR funding amounted (according to HEFCE’s own figures) to £173,260 in 09-10. 42 new MA students were recruited in 2009, a figure that is the envy of most philosophy departments in the UK. This itself represents an appreciable stream of income and it makes the decision to close down philosophy at Middlesex all the more perverse.

The reason why Middlesex did so well in the RAE, and that it recruits so well, is the outstanding reputation of CRMEP both within the UK and internationally. It is one of the leading centres for continental philosophy in the UK, achieving a 5 in the 2001 RAE and a GPA of 2.8 in the 2008 RAE – the same as Leeds, Nottingham and Edinburgh and above Warwick, Durham and Glasgow. Professors Eric Alliez, Peter Hallward and Peter Osborne, along with Dr Stella Stanford, and Dr Christian Kerslake are all outstanding researchers who are respected in the profession and beyond. Moreover, they have produced academic progeny who have established excellent reputations of their own and are helping other Universities to thrive. This is a sure indication of the good health of Philosophy at Middlesex and of the high quality of its teaching.

Of course not all contributions to a University are “measurable” in financial terms. This does not make them less important or mean that they do not bring substantial benefits (including economic ones) to the University. Philosophy’s contribution to the national and international esteem, reputation and good standing of the University should be valued very highly. Such things are hard won, and once the department is closed down, not recuperable.

We ask you to consider the immense damage that will be done to Middlesex by closing a department with such an impressive research reputation. Already there has been a national and international outcry, both within the discipline and beyond. Prospective students – both undergraduate and postgraduate – will be put off, and prospective and current staff will not regard Middlesex as a safe place of employment. It will certainly weaken the loyalty of the best academics at Middlesex working in other areas.

Good management practice in circumstances where the closure of a department is being considered is to have a full-scale external review of the department, with both internal and external expert panel members. Middlesex does not appear to have conducted such a review. Maybe this is because they can anticipate that it would quickly find that the department has all the hallmarks of long-term viability: an excellent research reputation, astonishingly good PG recruitment, and increasing undergraduate applications. Not holding a review reflects extremely poorly on the management team and again damages its institutional reputation.

In closing down its highest-ranking department for reasons of short-term financial expediency, in the face of such powerful countervailing considerations, Middlesex is betraying its own academic values. We urge you rethink this decision.

Yours

Dr Gordon Finlayson

Director of the Centre for Social and Political Thought, University of Sussex.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Chair of the Society of European Philosophy

Save  Middlesex Philosophy Campaign Website