Dear David and colleagues,
I support everything that is being proposed and will co-sign any open
letter. I was interviewed on Monday morning on BBC Radio Foyle (based
in Derry) and spoke in defence of German at QUB and of languages in
general.
But can I sound a note of caution? Ulster has a German dept in
Coleraine whose numbers are not as healthy as we would like, but the
institution is committed to maintaining the subject. Any open letter
should be careful to avoid creating the impression that German is
disappearing from NI as a whole.
Best wishes,
Pól.
Prof. Pól Ó Dochartaigh,
Dean of the Faculty of Arts,
University of Ulster.
Tel: +44 28 7032 4517.
On 16 Jun 2009, at 09:46, "David Robb" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Anne,
> Thanks for that. An open letter sent to all major newspapers, signed
> by as many Germanists
> and academics as possible and addressed to our VC is a great idea.
> It would have to be
> done quickly as our VC is announcing the Academic Plan on 23rd of
> this month. We have our
> own facts and ammunition but would someone from CUTG be prepared to
> liaise with me on
> this to make sure we present the best possible case?
> Regards,
> Dave
>
> On 16 Jun 2009 at 8:26, Anne Fuchs wrote:
>
> Dear Dave
> I have just caught up with the debate on the imminent closure of
> German at Queens. It goes
> without saying that I am happy to write a letter of protest to your
> VC. However, I wonder
> whether we shouldn't do more and write an open letter to all the
> major newspapers. This
> should be signed by a long list of Germanists and preferably by
> other academics from the
> humanities. A few big names from cognate subjects would certainly
> attract attention.
> I think that you need a media campaign about the future of modern
> languages in the UK and
> in Ireland for that matter. You may get further ammunition if you
> contact organisations such
> as IBEC in the South or the Chamber of Commerce (there is an Irish-
> German Chamber of
> commerce in Dublin): every single year they make statements to the
> effect that there are not
> enough qualified graduates with good language skills in a modern
> European language. You
> should also contact the Modern Language Committee of the Royal Irish
> Academy as this is
> this is an all Ireland committee with a rep from Queens on it -- it
> may have the capacity to
> pressurise your managment. Contact details are on the RIA website.
> Regards
> Anne
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: David Robb <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Monday, June 15, 2009 5:13 pm
> Subject: Re: German at QUB
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>> Dear Ritchie,
>> Here is a short report.
>> We have three lecturers in total and a DAAD-Lektorin. Two of the
>> colleagues are in their first
>> full-time academic post and were only appointed in 2006.
>> Usually we have around 25 students in first year (post-A-level
>> and Beginners) on joint degree
>> pathways. No single honours. Our Beginners mostly drop away
>> after first year leaving us
>> usually with a hard core of 15-18 students for each remaining
>> year. Our small final year of 8
>> students this year is an exception to the rule.
>> So right now we have 65 students (this figure includes those on
>> the year abroad). Most do
>> joint with French and are generally of an extremely high tarif.
>> French therefore feel
>> considerably weakened by this move to discontinue German. We are
>> very well integrated in
>> the School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts at both
>> undergraduate and
>> postgraduate level. We teach an UG Brecht module together with
>> Drama Studies and a
>> module on 20th Century German Cinema together with Film Studies.
>> We contribute to the
>> School Research Methods module for MA students and in 2006 we
>> introduced a School-wide
>> MA in Performance and Representation.
>> We have reinvigorated our German Studies MA in recent years and
>> have been recruiting
>> from our own UG students. This year we had 2.5 students on the MA.
>> We also offer degree combinations outside our School, for
>> example, the International
>> Management degree with languages and Science with Extended
>> Studies in Europe. We offer
>> an optional module in German Language and Culture for students
>> of Medicine, which
>> regularly attracts 10-12 students.
>> Our relationship with Northern Irish schools is excellent. We
>> have had a rigorous recruitment
>> programme in place over the last ten years. Our activities
>> include annual Debating
>> competitions for AS and A-level pupils (very popular with the
>> schools), an annual A- and AS-
>> Level Day and school visits. We think these activities have
>> contributed to our student
>> numbers holding up over the last 10 years while numbers studying
>> German in schools has
>> gone down.
>> Our performance in the RAE was admittedly disappointing. We
>> have, however, clearly moved
>> up a gear since the RAE deadline and have secured considerable
>> external research funding:
>> an AHRC/DFG grant (collaboration with the University of
>> Freiburg) worth £90,000 in total
>> (£60,000 of which for Queen's) and British Academy small grants
>> worth £10,500 in total. We
>> hosted one international conference last year and more are planned.
>> I hope this helps.
>> Best wishes,
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 15 Jun 2009 at 15:47, Ritchie Robertson wrote:
>>
>> Dear David,
>> I think many colleagues would be willing to write to the VC in
>> defence
>> of German at QUB, and, so that we don't rely solely on anecdotal
>> evidence or chance contacts, it would help if you could
>> provide a short
>> document making clear the health of the department, recruitment
>> figuresand prospects, relations with schools where German is
>> taught (and
>> possible impact of closure on their teaching), and ways in which
>> Germanis integrated with allied subjects in your School. The
>> removal of one
>> language from a School will weaken the School as a whole. It's also
>> worth stressing your department's research record.
>> I'm very grateful for Frank Finlay's original email, and hope he will
>> continue to monitor the situation nationally.
>> May I also draw colleagues' attention to the British Academy's recent
>> report 'Language Matters', available via
>> http://www.britac.ac.uk/ ?
>> Best wishes
>> Ritchie Robertson
>>
>> David Robb wrote:
>>> Thanks Gisela!
>>> We're mounting a campaign and any support (e.g. letters to the
>> VC) would be greatly
>>> appreciated. We've already gathered considerable support from
>> the grammar school
>>> teachers here in Northern Ireland and of course from our own
>> students.> We'll keep you all posted on developments.
>>> Dave
>>>
>>> Dr. David Robb
>>> Head of German Studies
>>> School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts
>>> Queen's University of Belfast
>>> Belfast BT7 1NN
>>> Tel. 028 90973341
>>>
>>
>> Dr. David Robb
>> Head of German Studies
>> School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts
>> Queen's University of Belfast
>> Belfast BT7 1NN
>> Tel. 028 90973341
>
> Professor of Modern German Literature and Culture
> School of Languages and Literatures
> UCD
> Belfield
> Dublin 4
> T: 003531 7168524
>
>
> Dr. David Robb
> Head of German Studies
> School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts
> Queen's University of Belfast
> Belfast BT7 1NN
> Tel. 028 90973341
>
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