URGENT: Dept. of Medieval History, TCD (Ireland) needs your help!
Sylvain Louboutin
History, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, I cross-posted that to
sci.archaeology and soc.culture.celtic which seems to be the
appropriate newsgroups for this message, if you have a better
suggestion, let me know...
--Sylvain
DEPT. OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY, TRINTIY COLLEGE DUBLIN NEEDS YOUR HELP!
This coming Friday morning, May 19, the Provost of Trinity College will
announce whether the Medieval History Department will be merged with the
separate Dept. of Modern History. The entire postgraduate student body,
faculty and staff are united in their opposition to such a merger.
Trinity has proven quite responsive in the past to international opinion,
and I am writing to you on behalf of the myself and my 27 fellow
post-graduate students in the hope that you will take a moment to send an
e-mail message or fax to the Provost to voice your objection to this
action. We believe that messages from academics and scholars outside the
discipline of medieval studies may be especially influential. Any message
will need to be received by 9 a.m. Thursday, May 18th (Dublin time). The
Provost of Trinity College is Dr. Thomas Mitchell. He can be reached via
e-mail care of: pro...@mail.tcd.ie -- or by fax at 353-1-608-2303.
The Medieval History Department at Trinity is the "flagship," for medieval
studies in Ireland and we are honored to work with scholars such as Dr.
Katharine Simms, Dr. Terry Barry, Dr. Ian Robinson, Prof. Christine Meek,
Dr. Se=E1n Duffy and Emeritus Lecky Professor of Irish History, James Lydon.
Medieval Irish history is a relatively new area of study, and a vast amount
of work remains to be done on this period of Irish history to understand
Ireland's place in, and influence on, the medieval European world. We feel
that the amalgamation of our department with that of Modern History is a
blow not only for us working in the Department, but also for the entire
community of scholars working in the fields of medieval history, and in
subjects which stand to benefit from our research, such as archaeology, art
history and settlement studies, and Celtic and medieval literature.
The following is the text of the letter which we, the postgraduate student
body, have sent to the Provost of Trinity College outlining our opposition
to the abandonment of the Department of Medieval History as a separate
department:
Dear Provost,
As postgraduate students in the Department of Medieval History, we wish to
express in the strongest terms our opposition to the amalgamation of the
Departments of Modern History and Medieval History.
The Department of Medieval History in Trinity enjoys an international
reputation for its studies. The three leading historians of medieval
Ireland in this century, Curtis, Otway-Ruthven and Lydon, established and
increased Trinity's high level of scholarship in this field, a standing we
believe is now under threat. Its high reputation has attracted students
from overseas who, in turn, have served to boost the profile of the
Department, and thus, the College.
With a total of 28 full-time postgraduate research students in medieval
history, our enrollment is by far the highest in the country. The student
profile for our department is as follows:
* 28 full-time postgraduates,
* 13 are non-Irish and
* 6 are non-EU
Such a student profile for a department of its size is, we believe,
indicative of its success.
Undoubedly, what attracts, and retains, many of us is the support our
Department provides to its research students. Through a long-established
weekly seminar the Department of Medieval History has created an enviable
esprit de corps among its staff and students. The Department has invested
resources in offices, computer facilities and a library for its students.
Our fear is that the departmental commitment to postgraduate medieval
research might prove difficult to sustain in a merged department and that
the resources now available to us may be overstretched.
Our Department has played an innovative role in the the study of medieval
history and continues to do so. It has recently established a successful
M. Phil. programme, the teaching of which is completely within department.
It was the first, and until recently the only, history department in the
country to teach medieval archaeology; a field in which it leads and has
produced a number of doctors. In addition, our Department also has a
number of inter-disciplinary students who we believe benefit from its
current structure.
Our greatest fear is that our subject may be marginalised in a new
department in which medieval academics would account for less than a third
of the staff. We fail to see the benefits to us, to our Department and to
the College of the proposed merger.
Maintaining a separate department testifies to Trinity's on-going
commitment to medieval history. We feel that amalgamation would make this
commitment less clear, making Trinity a less attractive option for
postgraduate transfer students. This is a particularly significant point
given the high number of non-EU students which our department has been able
to attract.
With the potential growth of the recently introduced taught Masters'
programme, this could be an important consideration given the Department of
Education's policy to abolish undergraduate fees. Moreover, if the
continuation of a separate Department of Medieval History is viewed
independently from that of the Lecky chair, the actual cost of maintaining
the Department would appear to be minimal. In light of these
considerations, we ask that you reconsider the proposed amalgation of the
Departments of Medieval and Modern History.
Yours sincerely,
(NAMES ATTACHED)
Postgraduate Students, Department of Medieval History