Dear Larry

I understand and share your concerns about the closure of 
the Centre for Women's Studies at Exeter - as a feminist 
geographer who has taught for the past 4 years on Women's 
Studies at Exeter!
While in no way defending the University's decision, I 
think the situation is (or at least has become) more 
complicated than simply taking pot shots at a group of 
critical academics.  

The Centre has done a great job over the past years but 
much of that has been dependent on the work of a group of 
committed and dedicated, unrecognised and largely 
unrewarded women from other departments around the 
University.  The Centre employs one part time director and 
part time administrator - the rest of us do stuff on top of 
other teaching loads (and as far as Geography is concerned 
my HOD couldn't care less whether or not I teach on Women's 
Studies - it certainly makes no difference to my other 
'load')
My own belief is that the Centre isn't sustainable on this 
sort of basis.  Other options for including the work of the 
Centre into other departments have been discussed within 
the University.  To my mind, academically, some of these 
were quite attractive but my own fear was that the support 
and 'outreach' activities and distinctiveness of the Centre 
would be lost if, for example, the Women's Studies MA was 
relaunched as Gender Studies in another School.

I can't offer any solutions at this stage - other than 
retaining the Centre with vastly increased funding which I 
suspect is a non-runner! I stress that I don't approcve of 
what the University is doing and am very concerned about 
losing such a well taught and well regarded course (my 
contribution is tiny!). But I am also concerned that this 
doesn't appear on the forum as a simple, cut and dried 
issue which all Exeter academics have stood by and watched 
happen.  It obviously raises all the old issues about 
'working from within the system' or trying to sustain a 
more principled stance in a climate in which the University 
is clearly bent on a policy of reducing its 'stand alone' 
Centres.  I know there are some who have looked at other 
ways of keeping the Women's Studies MA under other guises 
in other Schools so that at least Exeter keeps a programme 
of gender courses/teaching.  That wouldn't be ideal but I 
fear at present for the complete disappearence of Women's 
Studies under any guise.

This isn't meant to put you off signing a petition - I have 
done so but I did think long and hard about it in 
recognition not only of the future but also of the past and 
how 'unsustainable' the past dependence on people's time 
and energy is in these pressured times.

Jo
 
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Jo Little
University of Exeter



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