Peter, if it is not to late, please add my name and affiliation as well.

Thanks,

Juergen

-------------

Professor Juergen Barkhoff

Registrar

Registrar's Office

East Theatre

Trinity College

University of Dublin

Dublin 2, Ireland

Tel.: 00353-1-8962066

Department of Germanic Studies

Trinity College

University of Dublin

Dublin 2, Ireland

Tel.: 00353-1-8961210

---

From: JISCmail German Studies List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Schmitz, Helmut
Sent: 19 June 2009 14:32
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: QUB letter

Dear Peter,

thanks for this. Could you please add my name/affiliation to the letter?

Thanks!

Best wishes,

Helmut

Helmut Schmitz

Associate Professor of German

Dept of German Studies

University of Warwick

Coventry CV4 7AL

UK

Tel. (0044) 2476-572524

email: [log in to unmask]

---

From: JISCmail German Studies List on behalf of Peter Thompson
Sent: Thu 18/06/2009 19:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: QUB letter

Dear all
Below is the draft of a letter to the VC at Queen's
University Belfast about the closure of German there. If you would like to
add your signature to this appeal for a reconsideration of the decision
then please let me know ([log in to unmask]) as soon as possible.
Senate at Queen's is meeting on Tuesday and we need to get this appeal to
them by the weekend. It would be good to be able to append the names of as
many Heads of German as possible.
Thanks in advance for your support
Peter
-----
The Vice-Chancellor’s Office
Queen’s University of Belfast
University Road
Belfast BT7 1NN
                                                        17 June 2009


Dear Vice-Chancellor,

As academics and university teachers of Modern Languages, we are dismayed
to learn that Queen’s University is considering closing its Department of
German.

Qualifications in German, as in other major European languages, are highly
important in order to make graduates employable in the international job
market. Moreover, since German is integrated into a School of Languages,
Literatures and Performing Arts, one component of such a School cannot be
removed without damaging the viability of the rest. The Level 1 intake at
Queen’s is regularly between 20-30 students. These students are on a joint
degree pathway with other subjects; the majority are with French and are
invariably of an extremely high quality. This number has held steady and
even slightly increased over the years at a time when university student
numbers for German have fallen in many other parts of the UK. The German
area has been continually developing new and challenging courses to meet
the needs of today’s students.

Besides developing the syllabus, German staff at Queen’s have also been
active in producing research of high quality. In the past year alone they
have raised £100,000 in external funding: a £90,000 joint AHRC/DFG award
for a 3-year collaborative research project with the University of
Freiburg and £10,000 for two British Academy awards. They continue to
publish material of high quality and it is difficult to see what grounds
of academic policy there can be for ending an operation which is working
successfully in difficult times. It is equally difficult to see an
economic argument for closing a department whose small size – three
lecturers and a DAAD lector – must make it relatively inexpensive.

Foreign language competence is a vital part of the intellectual culture of
a nation as well as its economic strength. The population of the
German-speaking area of the EU numbers some 100 million and has long been
one of our most important trading partners. German literature, music and
culture together contribute to the common cultural reserves of Europe from
which Britain is gradually removing itself. The decision to close German
at Queen’s will only worsen the language skills deficit in the UK which –
as was recently stressed in the British Academy’s position paper Language
Matters – already damages the economic and cultural performance of the UK
by comparison with most of its EU competitors. We urge you to reconsider
this decision.

Yours sincerely

Prof. Ritchie Robertson, FBA, St Johns College Oxford
Dr Peter Thompson, University of Sheffield
Prof. Anne Fuchs, University College Dublin
Prof. Karen Leeder, New College, Oxford

--
Dr Peter Thompson
Director, Centre for Ernst Bloch Studies
http://shef.ac.uk/ernstbloch/)
Senior Lecturer in German
Department of Germanic Studies
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield S3 7RA
tel: 0114 222 4907
fax: 0114 275 1198

--
Dr Peter Thompson
Director, Centre for Ernst Bloch Studies
http://shef.ac.uk/ernstbloch/)
Senior Lecturer in German
Department of Germanic Studies
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield S3 7RA
tel: 0114 222 4907
fax: 0114 275 1198

Von einem gewissen Punkt an gibt es keine Rückkehr mehr. Dieser Punkt ist
zu erreichen.
Kafka