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Vital victory for arts and humanities education
Middlesex philosophy department wins battle against closure after six-week campaign.
Following six-weeks of protests and campaigning, including the suspension of several students and professors Peter Osborne and Peter Hallward, Middlesex's world-renowned philosophy department has won its battle against closure.
The Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy is an international leader in subjects such as critical theory, aesthetics, Marxism and psychoanalysis. Its proposed closure sparked concerns about the future of the humanities as cutbacks are made to departments across the country.
However, the department will no longer be disbanded and will instead relocate to Kingston University. They have hired four senior members of the department staff: Eric Alliez and Stella Sandford, alongside Osborne and Hallward. The MA and PhD programmes will be re-launched at Kingston this September, and all current post-graduate students will be invited to move along with the staff.
Professor Osborne said: "Kingston are making an incredible statement by doing this. They are positioning themselves as a different kind of university to Middlesex, one that is expanding rather than cutting back its provision in humanities subjects."
It is not clear what will happen to almost a million pounds awarded to the department by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) as a result of the last Research Assessment Exercise. The quality-related funding of £175,000 a year used to fund the salaries of the departing staff and Kingston is thought likely to seek its transfer.
Hefce said: "Transfers have been made between universities in the past, but this has been by mutual agreement and there is not a formal process."
No matter what Kingston decide to do regarding the Hefce funding, their role in the success of this campaign should be commended and their commitment to arts and humanities education applauded. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of Middlesex University.
Read AIR’s previous coverage of the campaign here »
Jack Hutchinson
First published: a-n.co.uk June 2010
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