FW: Petition: Save the foreign language departments of the University of Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece

[Wodak, Ruth]

From: mbessie at enl.uoa.gr [mailto:mbessie at enl.uoa.gr]
Sent: 11 February 2013 07:10
To: critics-l at listserv.cddc.vt.edu; ruth.wodak at univie.ac.at
Subject: Petition: Save the foreign language departments of the University of Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece

Dear colleagues,
we need your support, please sign our petition at

https://www.change.org/petitions/professor-konstantinos-arvanitopoulos-greek-minister-of-education-save-the-departments-of-english-french-german-italian-and-spanish
and spread the word


SAVE THE DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, AND SPANISH LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES IN GREECE

Based on financial logistics rather than on criteria of academic excellence, the  ATHENA scheme of the Greek government regarding University Education calls for the merging of the Departments of English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish Languages and Literatures, into a single "Department of Foreign Languages and Literature" [sic] at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
The above Departments have a long-standing tradition in teaching and research within the framework of autonomous programmes of academic studies. Teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as research in these Departments, covers distinct disciplines of literary and theoretical/applied linguistic studies, always in fruitful dialogue with the sociocultural context in which these disciplines develop. The ATHENA scheme will turn our Departments into a huge and misleadingly-named new "Department of Foreign Languages and Literature," with five language-based "directions". Inevitably, this will lead to language degrees with limited value, lack of educational standards and professional training.
Therefore, we the professorial staff of the aforementioned Departments are opposed to the proposed merger and request from the Minister of Education to respect and preserve each Department's autonomy, tradition and its valuable contributions to society and the European mission.


Bessie Mitsikopoulou

_______________________________________
Bessie Mitsikopoulou, Associate Professor
Faculty of English Language and Literature
School of Philosophy
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Panepistimioupoli Zographou, Athens, GR-15784
Tel.: 210 727 7705
Email: mbessie at enl.uoa.gr<mailto:mbessie at enl.uoa.gr>
http://www.enl.uoa.gr






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