Comments on: Annual Baynes Meeting for Ancient Historians: The Great Depression

By: The Dire State of Ancient History in the UK « rogueclassicism

The Dire State of Ancient History in the UK « rogueclassicism — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:25:34 +0000

[…] Annual Baynes Meeting for Ancient Historians: The Great Depression « Love of History Blog. […]

By: Helen King

Helen King — Fri, 21 May 2010 11:09:33 +0000

Why should anyone care what is happening at Reading? Real world is already full of redundancies?

Sure it is. As someone whose husband was made redundant from an international company last November, I do know about this.

But in the real world, they have to show that your post is no longer required. In my sector, 14 people are told they are ‘at risk of redundancy’ and that they will need to write saying why they should not be made redundant. That strikes me as about the person, not the post, and is not a pleasant way to live, not at all. I don’t think we have ‘all’ had to apply for our own job; I would be interested to know of other sectors where this is the norm. In the NHS something like this happens, but it is I think about regrading rather than losing people?

By: James Whitley

James Whitley — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:00:38 +0000

Two things: Ancient History and the Humanities, and cuts. First, I would like to endorse the view that this is a Humanities issue, not specifically an ‘Ancient History’ one. We need to make a case for the subject (and, as an archaeologist, I have a slightly different view on the subject) yes, but in the context of those subjects (in Britain, but not on the continent) are called the Humanities. The emphasis on STEM subjects is unsustainable, because serious research in science depends upon the historical and philosophical perspective that the Humanities (collectively) provide. This point needs to be made vigorously.
The mood music of the new government seems sympathetic to this view — it has very quickly abandoned the rhetoric of ‘management’, which was very much part of the New Labour command-and-control approach to universities.
Then the cuts: cuts are certainly inevitable. But there are plenty of scope for cuts in our universities. If you, like me, are part of an organisation whose administrative sectors have ballooned under the old regime, where VCs and Pro-VCs have awarded themselves handsome salaries, where there is an HR department that doesn’t (and indeed can’t) respond, and where there are financial systems that no-one can understand, then you will see there is plenty of scope for cuts. But it is essential that the cuts fall in the right places — and that universities remember that their mission is to undertake teaching and research, not ‘manage’.

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:38:26 +0000

I read the post about Reading, but it leaves me none the wiser. Surely we all have to face cutbacks and redundancies? and we’ve all had to apply for our own jobs at the mercy of some hatchet-man.

The best thing to do when you find yourself in such a situation, of course, is grab control of your own career and leave. Whether that is practical or not I know not.

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:36:12 +0000

By the way, excellent idea to stay in the Holiday Inn in Stevenage; i.e. in a commercial reasonably-priced hotel with good communication links. Hotel food is always rubbish, of course — the staff wouldn’t expect you to actually eat that stuff, you know! Get takeaways.

It always irritates me when conferences are held in places like Oxford and Cambridge which enjoy making it difficult and expensive to attend.

By: constantinakatsari

constantinakatsari — Tue, 18 May 2010 07:52:04 +0000

I understand your questions. I will try over the next few weeks to answer them in a series of posts. Using the comment space is not enough to develop the answer to these questions. Have you read the post today on Reading? It may give you a clearer idea about what is happening within the walls of that University.

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Tue, 18 May 2010 07:42:42 +0000

Constantina,

I’ve been reading your blog post again, because I want to blog about this issue. But — being new to this issue — I came away unclear about what was happening and what precisely the problem is? Can you clarify a little more?

I saw something about cutbacks. But I can’t complain about those (as someone who is looking at unemployment myself). A lot of people will respond with “we all have to face those, mate!” which is fair enough. But I get the impression that what’s happening is going beyond that. Can you say what is different about what’s happening here? Why is there all the clinical stress? What’s causing it?

I.e.

1. What is happening (in non-emotive language)?
2. Why do we — the educated and generally supportive outsiders — care?
3. What do we want to see happen?

Can you — anyone — help me out here?

(In case anyone takes my question amiss, I am NOT belittling; I’m just ignorant and asking for info!)

By: constantinakatsari

constantinakatsari — Tue, 18 May 2010 07:25:12 +0000

I see! Well, then it was entirely my fault. Being Greek, I developed a brutal, primitive, unsophisticated way of speaking (and writing). Sorry for the misunderstanding.

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Tue, 18 May 2010 07:18:04 +0000

Maria,

I’m sorry if I was unclear. Let me spell it out more simply.

I do not share my blog with others. Nor do I put on it a sign saying “This is mine,mine, mine, you dirty plebs keep out”. I don’t need to. The former is natural, the latter looks gratuitously nasty.

In other words, it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.

So I wouldn’t post things like “The comments will be open to whoever wants to participate but the posts will be written only by members of Staff in UK universities”. That’s why people snickered.

Turn it upside down, and put a positive, open spin on it. Say “posts will be written by members of staff in various UK universities”. Isn’t that much more friendly?

I’d say nothing about comments. Most comments on blogs are open to all (even if moderated). But if you want to say so explicitly, say “we welcome comments from both academics and the interested members of the public.” Again, friendly, open — not “only the privileged welcome” which was the phrasing above.

It’s all about perception, you know.

Nothing whatever wrong with people meeting together privately to coordinate their strategy. Just remember who may be watching! The message you want is “we are nice people being run around”.

Good luck!

By: Maria Pretzler

Maria Pretzler — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:53:35 +0000

… and concerning the state of academia:

I am afraid I have to contradict James Whitley as well…. I certainly know several academics in our subject who have been suffering from stress to such an extent that they were considering counselling or actually sought professional help.

We often put up with conditions that you simply wouldn’t see at a normal company in the real world. It’s not the long hours – it’s the incompetent management and confused signals we constantly get.

Where else are you told that your career and promotions depend on one specific activity (research) just to see your employers do their damned best to keep you from carrying out that particular activity, by withholding, to the best of their ability, time, staff support, infrastructure and funds?