BASEES Open Letter on the Proposed Redundancies at Goldsmiths, University of London

Warden

Professor Frances Corner OBE

Goldsmiths, University of London

Deputy Warden

Professor Elisabeth Hill

Goldsmiths, University of London

Norwich, 20/10/2021

Dear Professor Corner, Dear Professor Hill,

As President of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES), I am writing to you to express my grave concerns about the compulsory redundancies that threaten the History and English departments at Goldsmiths, University of London. We have learned that Goldsmiths senior management team is proposing to make redundant 32 professional services staff across the College and 20 (full time equivalent) academics in English & Creative Writing and History departments. These are significant cuts that threaten to devalue teaching and devastate research at Goldsmiths and will also impact upon our field more widely.

The Department of History at Goldsmiths is internationally renowned for its research into the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet space: Professor Alex Watson has produced several award-winning books on the First World War offering new insights into conflict and identity in East-Central Europe. Professor Dejan Djokić has established Goldsmiths’ outstanding reputation as a centre of excellence for the study of the former Yugoslavia (as is evident in his current project attracting highly competitive research fellowships from the British Academy and The Leverhulme Trust), leading to the creation of the UK’s only Research Centre for the Study of the Balkans. The latter’s current Director, Dr Nada Zečević, is an interdisciplinary historian whose latest research explores networks of émigrés from post-Byzantine/Ottoman Balkans to the European West during the Early Modern period and the input of these groups to the European memory and heritage. Finally, Dr Kate Davison’s work on Czechoslovakia and East Germany, which also has flow-on components to Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia, focuses on the history of psy-scientific research in the field of sexuality. Other high profile scholars in our field, such as Professor Jan Plamper, have sadly already left Goldsmiths.

Whilst we are all too mindful of the many challenges facing the higher education sector, our view is that the strong reputation of Goldsmiths in the study of transnational history and the history of imperial borderlands as meeting place of major world civilisations and religions is an excellent basis for expanding the recruitment of students as the sector emerges from the effects of the pandemic. Furthermore, the UK government has acknowledged the national interest in understanding Eastern Europe and the former Soviet space for geopolitical reasons. As the United Kingdom embarks on its post-Brexit strategy of ‘global Britain’ we will need to have experts ready to understand the world around us and investment into the Arts and Humanities is one way of achieving this, as well as a basis on which to train the future generation of experts. Redundancies in a leading university can undermine this aim and threaten to impinge upon our national interests as well as the more immediate interests of the higher education sector.

BASEES understands that the rapidly changing environment in UK higher education requires institutions to evolve and adapt and that this may mean difficult decisions have to be taken regarding the structure of departments and institutions. However, the medium and long-term implications of significantly cutting expertise fails to recognise the contribution made by many scholars over the years in their respective fields. It will also inevitably have a grave impact on the quality of your undergraduate and postgraduate programme. The Association would be pleased to participate in further consultation whilst stressing its deep concern regarding and opposition to any proposed compulsory redundancies at Goldsmiths.

Sincerely, 

Dr Matthias Neumann

President of BASEES