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Date: 16 June 2003 15:24 +0100
From: John Canning <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Meeting: Opening an Umbrella for the Area Studies Community


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1
Opening an Umbrella for the Area Studies Community

11am. 5 November 2003 CILT, 20 Bedfordbury, London WC2N 4LB 11am for 11.30.
Nearest Tube stations are Charing Cross, Leicester Square and Tottenham
Court Road.

For some time now at the various events organised by the Subject Centre,
Area Studies practitioners have been expressing frustration at the way they
lack clear and established channels of communication with the various
quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations that constitute the
decision-making bodies in Higher Education. This is in contrast to other
'disciplines' (loosely understood), which generally do possess a subject
association of a sufficient size and prominence to attract spokespeople
from the various quangos to talk to them and answer questions.

One of the primary aims of the Subject Centre?s Area Studies Project is to
create a greater sense of community amongst Area Studies practitioners. To
achieve this it has been decided to set up an open meeting on 5 November
2003. This is an open meeting for members of the twenty plus Area Studies
Subject Associations that currently constitute the community, but it will
be of particular interest to those to holding office within their
association, as one aim of the meeting will be to establish the basis upon
which an umbrella organisation to represent the interests of Area Studies
programmes in general can be established (most probably by electing a
steering committee to expedite this process and to call an inaugural
meeting).


Area Studies has no umbrella organization operating at present, and most
Area Studies Associations are too small to be able to attract quango
executives to their meetings. It is true there is/was an organisation
called the Coordinating Council for Area Studies Associations (CCASA), but
this now seems to be at best in suspension, at worst in dissolution, and in
any case CCASA's umbrella did not include (Modern or 'Old') European Area
Studies.

Whilst wishing to be involved, due to its remit and funding the Subject
Centre cannot directly take on the role of representing Area studies
interests in discussions and meetings with such bodies as HEFCE and AHRB .

It seems to many Area Studies practitioners that now that Area Studies has
been identified as a (quasi-)discipline both by the LTSN and by the QAA
benchmarking exercise, it is a good time to explore the idea of
establishing a new umbrella organisation to complement or supersede CCASA.
Its remit would be to speak for both Teaching/Learning and Research issues
affecting Area Studies. Its constitution could be readily modelled on an
existing subject association's constitution.

Provisional timetable

1130

TBC A vision for Area Studies John Selby, Regional Consultant for the West
Midlands HEFCE

1230 The Role of the Area Studies Project in building an Area Studies
community in the UK: The story so far. John Canning, Subject Centre for
Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

1245 After CCASA. Why Area Studies requires an umbrella organisation. Dick
Ellis, Nottingham Trent University and Chair of the Specialist Advisory
group for Area Studies.

1PM Lunch

2 PM

Open meeting for Officers/ Chairs/ Secretaries of Area Studies Associations

Dr John Canning
Academic Coordinator for Area Studies
School of Modern Languages
University of Southampton
Southampton SO17 1BJ
Tel: +44 023 80 595407
Fax: +44 023 80 594815
Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies:
http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk

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