medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
German departments are being closed, jobs are being axed all over the
place, so what’s so special about Dr Anne Simon? Three things. Firstly,
she is my successor, which gives me a particular interest. She was
appointed to the medieval post in the University of Bristol German
Department in 1992, two years before I retired from that post in 1994,
after holding it since 1967 in succession to Dr Estelle Morgan and
therefore by proxy to August Closs. Secondly, she seems by all accounts to
have been informed, curtly and unceremoniously, that she was to go without
the framers of this decision having consulted the rest of the department.
Thirdly, her departure would deprive the department not only of the only
colleague able to teach German literature before the modern period (during
her term of office she has extended medieval studies to medieval and early
modern studies), but also of the widest-ranging teacher in the department,
who forays out into the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries (as of course all we
medievalists do), offering courses on travel literature and on Judaism and
Islam in the second year. In addition, in her final-year unit on
Nuremberg, her special field of research interest, she covers not only the
Hans Sachs period, but also Nuremberg of the NS rallies and the trials, as
well as the contemporary city. Her departure would leave a
doctor-candidate without supervisor and break off any link between German
medieval studies in the neighbouring disciplines of French, Italian and
Spanish. It is not without relevance that she is a founder-member and
active participant in the University’s Centre for Medieval Studies, on the
steering-committees of both the Art Lecture series and the Centre for
Classical Studies (a book on the Medea legend co-edited by her appeared
only recently) and has been engaged for many years on a book on the
importance of Nuremberg in the early modern period. I think there is a
case for making the ‘powers that be’ rethink their decision. German in
Bristol cannot afford to lose anybody (staff-numbers have already been
reduced to six – it was eleven when I was appointed), least of all Anne
Simon.
On Tue, November 2, 2010 11:08 pm, George FERZOCO wrote:
> Dear Frank,
>
> Thanks for writing -- but you need only subscribe for the length of
> time it takes to post your message, after which you can leave the
> list, so -- given that your letter, as worded, demands it be sent by
> you -- could you please send it? I worry for Anne's sake (as do you),
> and know this will be yet another wonderful e-mail by you.
>
> remember:
>
> 1)
>
> to join, send the message:
>
> subscribe medieval-religion Frank Shaw
>
> to
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> 2)
>
> to post your message re Anne, address it to
> [log in to unmask]
>
> 3)
>
> to leave the list, send the message:
>
> unsubscribe medieval-religion
>
> to
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Alles Gute, George
>
> --
> George FERZOCO
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> On 2 Nov 2010, at 11:04, Frank Shaw wrote:
>
>> George,
>> Thanks for your helpful answer. I don't want to subscribe to another
>> list
>> (at my age!), just get the attached text, which you know, disseminated
>> throiugh the channels of Med Lit - though Henrike Laehnemann may
>> already
>> have done so.
>> Thanks for your support and best wishes,
>> Frank
>>
>> German departments are being closed, jobs are being axed all over the
>> place, so what’s so special about Dr Anne Simon? Three things.
>> Firstly,
>> she is my successor, which gives me a particular interest. She was
>> appointed to the medieval post in the University of Bristol German
>> Department in 1992, two years before I retired from that post in 1994,
>> after holding it since 1967 in succession to Dr Estelle Morgan and
>> therefore by proxy to August Closs. Secondly, she seems by all
>> accounts to
>> have been informed, curtly and unceremoniously, that she was to go
>> without
>> the framers of this decision having consulted the rest of the
>> department.
>> Thirdly, her departure would deprive the department not only of the
>> only
>> colleague able to teach German literature before the modern period
>> (during
>> her term of office she has extended medieval studies to medieval and
>> early
>> modern studies), but also of the widest-ranging teacher in the
>> department,
>> who forays out into the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries (as of course
>> all we
>> medievalists do), offering courses on travel literature and on
>> Judaism and
>> Islam in the second year. In addition, in her final-year unit on
>> Nuremberg, her special field of research interest, she covers not
>> only the
>> Hans Sachs period, but also Nuremberg of the NS rallies and the
>> trials, as
>> well as the contemporary city. Her departure would leave a
>> doctor-candidate without supervisor and break off any link between
>> German
>> medieval studies in the neighbouring disciplines of French, Italian
>> and
>> Spanish. It is not without relevance that she is a founder-member and
>> active participant in the University’s Centre for Medieval Studies,
>> on the
>> steering-committees of both the Art Lecture series and the Centre for
>> Classical Studies (a book on the Medea legend co-edited by her
>> appeared
>> only recently) and has been engaged for many years on a book on the
>> importance of Nuremberg in the early modern period. I think there is a
>> case for making the ‘powers that be’ rethink their decision.
German in
>> Bristol cannot afford to lose anybody (staff-numbers have already been
>> reduced to four – it was eleven when I was appointed), least of all
>> Anne
>> Simon.
>> On Fri, October 29, 2010 8:24 pm, George FERZOCO wrote:
>>> Dear Frank (and other interested colleagues),
>>>
>>> You can get the Dean's details here:
>>> http://www.bris.ac.uk/classics/staff/martindale.html
>>>
>>> Best wishes,
>>> George Ferzoco
>>>
>>> --
>>> George FERZOCO
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> On 29 Oct 2010, at 17:07, Frank Finlay wrote:
>>>
>>>> Robert, do we have the actual name for the Dean of Arts, as opposed
>>>> to his email. Am about to write on behalf of AGS. Best, Frank
>>>>
>>>> From: JISCmail German Studies List
>>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]
>>>> ] On Behalf Of Robert Vilain
>>>> Sent: 29 October 2010 09:34
>>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>> Subject: Bristol: Dr Anne Simon
>>>>
>>>> Dear Colleagues
>>>>
>>>> I’m grateful to Frank Shaw for his post yesterday, and for the
>>>> numerous messages of dismay, support and advice that have reached
>>>> the Department, privately and more publicly, since then. I know Anne
>>>> is very grateful for the strength of support she is receiving from
>>>> the profession.
>>>>
>>>> The situation is this: Anne was informed on Tuesday that she was to
>>>> be made redundant because the University had decided to disinvest in
>>>> the Medieval/Early Modern area of our subject. As Subject Lead (but
>>>> not Head of Department – we are run via a School) I was
>>>> warned that
>>>> the letter was to be sent very shortly beforehand. Anne told
>>>> colleagues on Wednesday and students on Thursday.
>>>>
>>>> Earlier in the year, colleagues in German were told that one of
>>>> their number was likely to be made redundant: this was in April , I
>>>> think, but at any rate a couple of weeks after I had signed my
>>>> contract accepting the chair in the Department. I was told later
>>>> that day ‘as a matter of courtesy’ and assured that this
>> decision
>>>> had not been made until after I had accepted the post. We, the
>>>> Department, had been expecting further consultations between then
>>>> and the decision on which member of staff would be made redundancy
>>>> but have not had any such consultations. The announcement has thus
>>>> been sudden and brutal, especially for Anne.
>>>>
>>>> Colleagues have asked about the situation elsewhere in MFL in
>>>> Bristol. As I understand it (and I have no proper historical
>>>> perspective so can’t absolutely guarantee every detail),
>>>> French will
>>>> have reduced from 14 to 9 over 5 years, without redundancies but
>>>> with one (I think) voluntary severance; Italian used to be 6 and is
>>>> now 5; Russian/Czech is 5 and HIPLA (Spanish and Portuguese) will
>>>> lose one member of staff to redundancy in a process that is ongoing
>>>> but not yet finalized. A Chair in Iberian and Latin American Studies
>>>> is currently being advertised
>>>> (http://www.bris.ac.uk/boris/jobs/feeds/ads?ID=90449
>>>> ) . There are to be redundancies and posts not filled in the other
>>>> Schools of the Faculty but I don’t currently have full
>>>> information
>>>> on that.
>>>>
>>>> German will reduce from the 6 full-time academic staff that we have
>>>> been since I started on 1 September to 5 (not 4 as Frank suggested,
>>>> although he is quite right to point out the much more drastic
>>>> reductions that we, like many other Departments, have suffered over
>>>> a longer period). We have 3 other full-time colleagues, a permanent
>>>> language coordinator and 2 posts sponsored and supported (but not
>>>> funded, I believe) by the DAAD and the Austrian Government. We are
>>>> fortunate in having the help of a number of other staff, mainly
>>>> teaching language. And last but very much not least, we currently
>>>> have a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow. I say all this because,
>>>> whilst we are angry and disappointed about the cut, we are not
>>>> suffering the kind of savagery that Swansea is facing and it would
>>>> be wrong to put ourselves in that category.
>>>>
>>>> That said, I don’t need to tell this forum how damaging it is
>>>> to the
>>>> profession and the discipline to lose the fields of Medieval and
>>>> Early Modern German and how much of a blow it is for a Department
>>>> with if not a unique range of areas of German Studies covered to a
>>>> high level then at least an unusually large one.
>>>>
>>>> Students have been quite extraordinarily eloquent and forceful in
>>>> their support for Anne and in their defence of the Department, and
>>>> we would very much welcome formal support for our resistance to this
>>>> cut from colleagues, too. Messages on this matter should be sent, I
>>>> think, to the Dean of Arts:
>>>>
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>> or
>>>> Dean of the Faculty of Arts
>>>> 3/5 Woodland Road
>>>> Clifton
>>>> Bristol
>>>> BS8 1TB
>>>>
>>>> I shall collate all the responses, internal and external, so it
>>>> would be helpful if colleagues could copy any messages to me, blind
>>>> or open as you prefer. Please get in touch with me directly if you
>>>> have any more questions.
>>>>
>>>> With thanks again, and apologies for such a long posting,
>>>>
>>>> Robert
>>>>
>>>> Professor Robert Vilain, MA DPhil (Oxon)
>>>> German Department
>>>> School of Modern Languages
>>>> University of Bristol
>>>> 21 Woodland Road
>>>> Bristol BS8 1TE
>>>>
>>>> Tel: (0117) 928 8794
>>>> http://www.bristol.ac.uk/german/
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Professor Frank Shaw
>> 57 Westbury Road
>> BRISTOL
>> BS9 3AS
>> Tel: 0117 9629578
>>
>
>
--
Professor Frank Shaw
57 Westbury Road
BRISTOL
BS9 3AS
Tel: 0117 9629578
Fax: 0117 9622629
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