Good morning,
Having just registered for a postgraduate course in the geography
department of Edinburgh University, I was surprised to find that a
large scale move has been planned to merge in one building the various
sub-disciplines of the (recently created) School of Geosciences such
as geography, geology, ecology...
In 2004, the geography department joined this administrative unit
because of the shared grant applications with the physical sciences
and the fact that geography sat uneasily in all the various larger
units. Staff in its majority accepted this merger with the
understanding that this administrative change would bear no
consequences on the organisation and running of the discipline. The
geography department indeed remained in a specific central building,
where both human and physical geographers worked whilst the other
disciplines of the School of Geosciences were based in an campus far
from city centre.
The School of Geosciences now holds a vision of a 'single-site'
building to be located in the Science campus far from city centre.
Many lecturers and students in the geography department have expressed
concerns that such a location would both marginalise 'radical'
geographies and hinder collaboration across the social sciences. Many
have also questioned the assumptions underlying the move and lack of
evidence to support such a change.
I am interested in hearing positive and negative stories, experiences
and consequences for geography departments, staff and students of
similar mergers and moves. If you have any to share, please send them
to this email address. This stems from a desire to research the
consequences of such moves and mergers and assess how wide spread a
phenomenon this is.
In the mean time, i wish you a happy, challenging and surprising new year,
Best,
emma saunders
--
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
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