According to media coverage, the closure of the Sheffield Univ Archaeology Dept has been confirmed. It seems to have been very badly handled by the university, but nonetheless (and in spite of a huge petition of protest) the Dept appears to have had only ten offers to undergraduates for the next academic year — and there is no way that a full-blown university department can afford to stay open in the face of such student apathy.
Plenty of other “famous” university departments have closed over the years, and the archaeology world cannot really claim that there was anything exceptional or uniquely valuable about Sheffield Archaeology — in spite of the fact that our friend MPP was once on the staff.
We can link this with my last post, and ask whether archaeology really knows what it is or where it is going. It’s sure as eggs not a scientific discipline, and I’m not sure whether it is a humanity either. With its apparent disregard for the value of hard evidence it looks more and more like a story-telling subject — and modern undergraduates want more, I suspect, than myths and bedtime stories.
Nicely put, Brian.
ReplyDeleteTom
I think I am correct in saying that several very specialist sectors within the Archaeology Department at this University will continue to exist, moving to other Departments
ReplyDeleteYes, closing a university department is immensely complex. Staff with tenure need to be found “homes” within other departments, which then need to adjust their teaching schedules so as to give them teaching opportunities. Some teachers and support staff will no doubt be made redundant or given “offers they cannot refuse”. Ongoing research projects are even more difficult to deal with, and have to be transported across to other departments in order to be completed. Whether the other departments are enthusiastic about taking on these extra responsibilities is another matter entirely……
ReplyDeleteMy God you are living in the past Tenure for academcs was lost about 1985ish.
ReplyDeleteNobody who chanaged unis was promoted etc had tenure.
So I doubt there are any tenured staff in any uni.
I lost mine in 1988
Some who had tenure survived for long after 1985. I know one who refused to retire or to move, and carried on regardless of the fact that he had no department to run…….. but I appreciate that most of the more recent appointments have not had the same security or rights.
ReplyDeleteThe staff on the course I'm following are all on very short fixed-term contracts, they are out once we finish mid-2023 with the last bit of EU funding.
ReplyDeleteThis will only be part of winnowing out of universities and education generally, in the next few years. I guess that means an increase in populist leaning projects that were formerly academic only.
Dave
Hmmm — very sad. And some people still think Brexit was a great idea……… we ain’t seen nothin yet……..
ReplyDeletePopulist leaning projects — sadly, i think you are right. More and more emphasis on banner headlines and “spectacular” results, and less and less on academic rigour…..
ReplyDeletePersonally think they should close the University. Giving credibility to MPP reveals a lack of moral authority and intellectual bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteTalk of some more waffley Arts degrees being axed (Independent)
ReplyDeleteChris, I think closing the whole university might be a bit too dramatic! But I certainly agree that universities should be more concerned about the activities of their “media darlings” and should scrutinize their research activities and published output much more carefully. When a hoax is being perpetrated — as it is here — the host university will take a big hit in terms of credibility when all is finally revealed…….
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