Fw: CLosure of Anthropology Dept. and Anthropological Forum at Univ. Of Western Australia
Terry Redding
Dear Colleagues,
Staff members at The University of Western Australia have recently been informed of a proposed restructuring of the School of Social Sciences which includes the closure of the entire Anthropology & Sociology discipline group and serious damage to many other social science disciplines. This would result in 16 academic staff members across the School losing their jobs, while 12 others will be reassigned to teaching-only positions (including all remaining staff in Asian Studies). If the proposal is implemented, this will spell an end to Anthropological and Sociological teaching and research at UWA.
As the editors of Anthropological Forum, we are of course outraged at the profound loss of scholarly expertise that would result from this proposal, not to mention the impact on the careers and livelihoods of the affected staff. But it also puts the future of our journal in doubt. While we are an international journal, Anthropological Forum has always had a home at UWA and been closely affiliated with the anthropology discipline there. As a practical matter, the day-to-day operations of the journal rely on resources made available through this affiliation and the work of anthropologists employed through the School of Social Sciences at UWA (editor Katie Glaskin, associate editor Mitchell Low, and book review editor Sean Martin-Iverson).
The proposal itself contains no mention of Anthropological Forum, and we have received no communication from UWA management concerning the impact of these cuts on the journal. However, it is clear that the elimination of the entire Anthropology & Sociology discipline group also puts the existence of our journal at risk.
UWA management have given the affected staff only a contemptuously brief 10-day 'consultation period' to respond to the proposal, and so we need to act urgently. As such, we have drafted the below submission on behalf of the editors and editorial board of Anthropological Forum objecting to the proposal, focusing especially the loss of Anthropology at UWA and its impact on the journal.
Staff and students in Anthropology & Sociology and across the School of Social Sciences at UWA would also welcome any support you can provide in an individual capacity. Letters opposing the cuts should be sent to the Chancellor of The University of Western Australia, Professor Robert Shenton French, AC at robert....@uwa.edu.au; the Chair of the Academic Board, Winthrop Professor Raymond Da Silva Rosa at ray.das...@uwa.edu.au; and to the academic staff representative on the UWA Senate, Dr Nin Kirkham, at nin.k...@uwa.edu.au. Please also BCC the campaign at savesocial...@gmail.com. It would also be helpful to the campaign if you could get in touch with any relevant scholarly societies or associations of which you are a member to solicit their support, and otherwise spread the word amongst your colleagues. Further information about the proposed cuts and the campaign against them is available at https://www.savesocialsciencesuwa.net/.
Many thanks,
Laurent Dousset, Katie Glaskin, Nick Harney, Mitchell Low, and Sean Martin-Iverson