Many thanks to Pat and Andrew for their kind and considerate replies to my
occasional outburst of frustration! Notwithstanding my more personal
concerns about my own situation and about the similar situation of several
close friends and colleagues I would be interested to widen the discussion
a bit and to know, in a more general sense, what the current views about
the situation of Italian Studies and about the future of those who study
Italian are. Andrew mentioned alternatives to an academic career, like
language teaching or training in non-university institutions. Do we have
facts or figures about the respective percentage of graduate students who
find academic positions, or non-academic (but Italian related) positions,
or who move on to entirely different fields? Could we collect such figures
and maybe venture a comparative evaluation of the situation in the UK as
compared to other countries like, for instance, Germany or the USA? And if
statistical figures don't exist or seem unreliable, how and with which
arguments do we/you nevertheless react to students who consider to take a
grade in Italian? How should one responsibly encourage (or rather
dissuade?) such plans today? Also, should academic teaching program be
adjusted to the changing trends on the job market, and how?
In my opinion this list would be a good forum to collect data and expert
opinions from various countries, which would enable us to assess a
situtation more clearly which seems fairly critical to me. Unfortunately, I
have to go off-line for several days, but I will be glad to rejoin the
discussion by the end of next week.
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Otfried Lieberknecht, Schoeneberger Str. 11, D-12163 Berlin
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