Imminent End to Slavic Studies at Basel University

[Ron Vroon]

Dear Colleagues:

On Thursday, January 22, the University of Basel announced its intention to
discontinue Slavic studies. The new came suddenly and unexpectedly, without
consultation with the members of the faculty or students.

This would be a major loss for our field and I urge all of you to write
letters to the appropriate authorities (names and addresses below) to
express your concern and urge that the program be retained.  The background
is as follows:

 The administration's position is that Slavistics is central to the
University's core mission. It has been led to believe that profiling
Slavistics is not particularly important for Switzerland, and concluded that
two Universities (at Zurich and Bern) suffice to meet demand in the field.

These conclusions appear to have arisen in a vacuum, with little
consideration for the actual state of the program and its international
reputation.  I recently had the priviledge of conducting an advanced seminar
at the University and can speak with first-hand experience about its
strengths.

The University of Basel has a thriving program on both the graduate and
undergraduate level, with some ninety students currently enrolled--a
substantial number given the modest size of the University. It has a superb
infrastructure, boasting one of Central Europe's finest Slavic collections a
large Slavic Seminar Library and joint production of a highly regarded
publication series (Slavica Helvetica). It is ably directed by Professor
Andreas Guski, known to many of you as a leading specialist in the literaure
of the Soviet Period (the production novel in particular).  Morale is high
(at least until the most recent announcement!) and the faculty is
productive, both in terms of scholarship and students awarded degrees. The
program has developed an international reputation for innovative research,
in particular its seminar series, "Literature and Commerce: the Writer's
Profession and Money Symbolism in Russian Realism," a major outgrown of the
"New Economic Criticism."  It has generated significant interest in the
local community as well, and productive ties to local museums and archives
(the Stravinsky Archive, the Fritz Lieb Collection, the Tsvetaeva Archive,
etc.). THE LOSS OF THE PROGRAM WOULD REPRESENT A MAJOR LOSS FOR OUR FIELD.

Additional details about the program, as well as the planned closure, may be
found on the Slavic Seminar Web Sites (http://www.unibas.ch/slavi/index.htm
and http://www.unibas.ch/slavi/protest/foren.htm).

I strongly urge you to write the President of the University Council, the
Rector, the Dean, and also to e-mail the head of the Institute, Prof.
Andreas Guski, expressing your support for Slavic Studies. Together we can
rescue this program.  Here are the addresses:

Prof. Dr. theol. Ulrich Gabler
Universitat Basel, Rektorat
Petersplatz 1, Postfach
CH-4003 Basel
Switzerland

Dr. phil. Rolf Soiron
Prasident des Universitatsrats
der Universitat Basel
Petersplatz 1, Postfach
Switzerland

Frau Prof. Doktor Annelies Hacki-Buhofer
 Dekanin der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultat
der Universitat Basel
Bernoullistrasse 28
4056 Basel

Please send e-mail copies of your letters to the Slavic Seminar Director,
Prof. Andreas Guski, at Andreas.Guski at unibas.ch, or by snail-mail to him at:

Slavisches Seminar der Universitat Basel
Nadelberg 4
CH-4051 Basel
Switzerland

Please assist both Basel University and the field of Slavic Studies by
participating in this protest action! If you have any questions or concerns,
do not hesitate to contact me off-line (vroon at humnet.ucla.edu).


Ronald Vroon
Chair, Dept. of Slavic Languages & Literatures
University of California, Los Angeles

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