Dear AFLS members
As part of the British Academy's review of graduate
studies, AFLS has been invited to submit its views on the
recruitment and retention of postgraduate research students
and academic staff - especially *case-studies of any
problems that you have identified*.
As Chair of the AFLS Research Committee, I have been asked
to gather your views on this.
The BA's Graduate Studies Review Committee includes Prof
Marion Hobson (French, QMW) as representative for
'Languages', Prof Harvey Goldstein (London) as rep for
Education & Statistical Methods, and Prof Tim Ingold
(Aberdeen) for Anthropology.
The BA Review is gathering data on the composition of the
postgraduate population, looking especially at home-based
students and the sources of their funding.
The President of the BA said recently: 'The current
situation is unsatisfactory and the prospective situation
in a few years time deeply alarming. Undergraduates are
completing their studies with a heavy and increasing load
of debt. Many are reluctant to add to their burdens by
embarking on three to five years of graduate work. It
requires an unusual degree of dedication to tip the balance
in favour of beginning graduate study.'
No doubt we are all aware of these general issues, and the
fact that the research areas covered by AFLS are even more
severely affected than other areas of Modern Languages.
If you have some specific points or case-studies that
you would like to contribute to the AFLS response to the
BA, could you please send them to me in an attached rtf
file, not later than Friday 22 September?
Best wishes
Aidan Coveney
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Aidan Coveney
University of Exeter
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