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	<title>Love of History &#187; great depression</title>
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		<title>Annual Baynes Meeting for Ancient Historians: The Great Depression</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/annual-baynes-meeting-for-ancient-historians-the-great-depression/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/annual-baynes-meeting-for-ancient-historians-the-great-depression/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2010 08:15:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancient history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baynes meeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cuts in academia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[great depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[This weekend I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at Stevenage. You are probably wondering what on earth I was doing in such an unlikely town, as it is devoid of any historical or archaeological interest. And yet, its obscurity means that overworked and underpaid Ancient Historians from across the UK could afford to pay the modest hotel bill for one night (the whole experience cost us around 100 pounds) and hold there the important Annual Baynes Meeting. It is worth mentioning that, despite the lukewarm service, the nearly edible food and the very basic facilities, we will probably hold the Meeting in the same place also next year. The low price and the convenience of public transportation are the main reasons for such a choice. The quality of the hotel matched the depressing atmosphere of the Meeting. It became obvious from the very beginning that most of my colleagues were concerned with the situation in Higher Education. The impeding cuts at the University of Leeds and King’s College London hit a nerve earlier this year. Everyone agreed that this is the beginning of a long freeze in recruitment and possibly also payments. It is expected that the majority of the universities in the UK will not hire any ancient historians in the next five years. This could only mean that fresh PhD and Postdoctoral researchers will not be able to find permanent or even three year posts. Instead, they may have to seek alternative means of survival, until the crisis is over and departments manage to balance their budgets. In subsequent posts this week I intend to give more specific information about individual universities and their current state of affairs. So, what are we going to do about it? The first measure that has been suggested is an immediate change in the nature of British Academy Fellowships. For example, it has been noted that during the 1980s, when another freeze was imposed to university posts, these Awards were given to older, more experienced Ancient Historians. This way several members of our profession stayed employed and went on to find permanent jobs much later, in the beginning of the 1990s. Now, we may be facing a similar situation. If some of our skilled historians find themselves without a job in the near future, then, instead of seeking another post, they would probably be allowed to apply for a postdoctoral British Academy Fellowship. Of course, such a course of action will have severe implications on the future of current Ph.D. students, who will be left without true prospects in Academia. Another step that should be taken is to try to bring the community of Ancient Historians closer together. Several of us believe that a meeting once a year in Stevenage is not enough to discuss the problems arising from the current situation in Universities across the UK. So, we have seriously started discussing the usefulness of social media in creating an online community of Academics. I can assure you that the discussion in the Meeting was particularly heated (even by British standards) and that the delegates were divided in two distinct parties: the ones in favour of the scheme and the sceptics. As we agreed to disagree, we also came to the conclusion that there is no harm to try to use social media in order to raise the profile of Ancient History in the eyes of the public and at the same time create a forum of discussion for academics. With these aims in mind over the next few days I will set up a blog in which all Ancient Historians and Classicists will be able to post their views. The comments will be open to whoever wants to participate but the posts will be written only by members of Staff in UK universities. At the same time I will set up a facebook group, in which Ancient Historians and Classicists (again only UK Staff) will be able to participate in the discussion. When these two platforms are ready you will be contacted via email. If some of you are not contacted and you wish to participate, please, let me know about it. In the meantime, if you wish to share your views with the rest of us, you can post them in my facebook page called &#8220;Love of History&#8221;, which is also open to the public.]]></description>
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