<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Dear Colleagues,<div><br></div><div>I forward Peter Sherwood's e-mail to the list, because he makes some very important points which I think we should continue discussing.</div><div><br></div><div>My own impression of this situation, on the basis what I have heard from Bea Wagner-Nagy, is that there are several interconnected problems:</div><div>1. The general economising and streamlining pressures which we all experience, combined with the administration's search for quantifiable criteria, which leads to counting the numbers of students and automatically putting all small disciplines into a disadvantaged position;</div><div>2. Problems in student recruitment -- also a general issue, due to the fact that "our" languages are normally not learnt at schools, few college graduates even know that our discipline exists, and it is difficult to motivate students to take up very work-intensive studies which, nevertheless, do not offer secure prospects for employment;</div><div>3. International, national and regional policies in higher education. How many departments of Finno-Ugric studies does Germany need? Are all European countries obliged to secure the teaching of all other European state languages and national philologies? Does Germany want to maintain its venerable traditions in Finno-Ugric studies? How do these national goals go together with the federal education policies of Germany, where Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg perhaps wants to demonstrate its independence... ?</div><div><br></div><div>But, specifically for Hamburg, there is a further problem:</div><div>4. It seems that the University of Hamburg is dealing with the situation, which of course really is problematic in many ways, in an extremely unprofessional and short-sighted manner. Instead of letting the department die out, which might have been expedient after the death of Eugen Helimski (and considering the slowly but certainly approaching retirement of the two lecturers), the university hires a new professor. Only after that, they start shutting down posts. This gives the impression that </div><div>a. the people in charge at the university administration have not decided whether they want to have Finno-Ugric studies in Hamburg or not, </div><div>b. they have not bothered to inform themselves of what it takes to maintain an institute which is in charge of an entire language family (for instance: that the lecturer of Finnish is probably not qualified to teach Estonian as well, or that it is not meaningful to combine the courses of Finnish and Hungarian culture), and</div><div>c. when confronted with these problems, the administration refuses constructive dialogue with the institute.</div><div>In brief, what we see here looks like bad, uninformed and unprofessional administration, pure and simple.</div><div><br></div><div>We can, of course, initiate an Internet petition -- and, perhaps, we should. We can also turn to the administration of the faculty and the university on our own behalf and on behalf of our institutes. Perhaps official-looking letters with round stamps would do the trick better than "cheap clicks" on the Internet? What do you think?</div><div><br></div><div>Best</div><div>JL<br><div apple-content-edited="true">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>--</div><div>Univ.Prof. Dr. Johanna Laakso</div><div>Universität Wien, Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft (EVSL)</div><div>Abteilung Finno-Ugristik</div><div>Campus AAKH Spitalgasse 2-4 Hof 7</div><div>A-1090 Wien</div><div><a href="mailto:johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at">johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at</a> • <a href="http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/">http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/</a></div><div>Project ELDIA: <a href="http://www.eldia-project.org/">http://www.eldia-project.org/</a> </div><div><br></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<br><div><div>Peter Sherwood kirjoitti 16.2.2013 kello 19.53:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">Dear Johanna<br><br>It might be best if Bea, with others, formulated a text and launched an online petition (perhaps on Aavaz or something similar, as Szeged University did recently). I'm not sure individual letters or e-mails of protest do the trick any longer. In fact ALL departments of FU/Uralic studies should get together and formulate a strategy arguing for the importance and relevance of the field, as these days everyone is in danger. <br>
Best wishes,<br>Peter Sherwood<br>University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 16 February 2013 12:37, Johanna Laakso <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at" target="_blank">johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word">Dear All,<div><br></div><div>Beáta Wagner-Nagy asked me to forward this message to URA-LIST. To be continued...</div>
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<div>--</div><div>Univ.Prof. Dr. Johanna Laakso</div><div>Universität Wien, Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft (EVSL)</div><div>Abteilung Finno-Ugristik</div><div>Campus AAKH Spitalgasse 2-4 Hof 7</div>
<div>A-1090 Wien</div><div><a href="mailto:johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at" target="_blank">johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at</a> • <a href="http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/" target="_blank">http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/</a></div>
<div>Project ELDIA: <a href="http://www.eldia-project.org/" target="_blank">http://www.eldia-project.org/</a> </div><div><br></div></div></span><br></span><br>
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<div><br><div>Välitetty viesti alkaa:</div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium;color:rgba(0,0,0,1.0)"><b>Lähettäjä: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium">Beáta Wagner-Nagy <<a href="mailto:beata.wagner-nagy@uni-hamburg.de" target="_blank">beata.wagner-nagy@uni-hamburg.de</a>><br>
</span></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium;color:rgba(0,0,0,1.0)"><b>Päivämäärä: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium">15. helmikuuta <a href="tel:2013%2019.41.43" value="+12013194143" target="_blank">2013 19.41.43</a> UTC+1.00<br>
</span></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium;color:rgba(0,0,0,1.0)"><b>Vastaanottaja: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium">Johanna Laakso <<a href="mailto:johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at" target="_blank">johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at</a>><br>
</span></div><div style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium;color:rgba(0,0,0,1.0)"><b>Vastaus: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:medium"><a href="mailto:beata.wagner-nagy@uni-hamburg.de" target="_blank">beata.wagner-nagy@uni-hamburg.de</a><br>
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<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">Kedves Johanna, <br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">megkérnélek az
alábbi levél továbbítássára az uralist-re.<br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">Köszönöm<br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">Bea<br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">The alarming
developments due to the austerity
measures at the University of Hamburg and its dramatic effects
for the
Institute of Fenno-Ugric/Uralic Studies (IFUU) would be a reason
enough to
inform the scientific community about them. The IFUU shares the
same fate as other
small disciplines that are in danger of being shut down as an
effect of the
economization of the higher education sector. However, it is not
this trend but
rather the way these austerity measures are implemented that
filled me with
indignation. <span> </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">At the IFUU, a
half-time post of a university
lecturer is to be cut by the end of the winter term 2012/13.
This measure is
one (and maybe the last) step in a series of reductions the
institute has
suffered since 2005, through which its human resources have been
continuously
and systematically reduced. A full-time post of a university
lecturer was
replaced by a half-time lower ranked post (which is now cut),
the employment
contract of a scientific assistant was not extended, and
teaching contracts
were cancelled, with the effect that e.g. the teaching of the
Estonian language
will cease completely. In my opinion, now the point is reached
where it is
impossible to proceed. The whole area of study is being
systematically shut
down, but the university decision-makers refuse to admit this.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">An entire
discipline covering a whole language
family, with both a B.A. (Fenno-Ugric / Uralic Studies) and an
M.A. (Uralic
Languages and Cultures) programme, must now be managed by one
single university
professor supported by two language course instructors only –
this is the
opinion of the chairperson of the Department of Languages,
Literature, and
Media. Since the beginning of December 2012, the chairperson has
refused any
personal dialogue with me and any discussion in meetings of the
department and
indignantly refuses to recognize any responsibility. So does the
dean of the
faculty. Instead, I have been repeatedly demanded to change the
curriculum so
that the subject matter can be taught with radically reduced
capacity. The chairperson
suggested in an e-mail that this were possible by way of
“polyvalent” courses,
in that e.g. students specializing on Hungarian studies should
attend courses
in Fennic studies. Such “solutions” only testify to the
ignorance of persons who
in fact should represent the interests of the disciplines and
stakeholder
groups.<span> </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">In the M.A.
programme Uralic Languages, the
curriculum allows for two specializations, namely, linguistic
and cultural
studies. The specialization in cultural studies is a unique
feature within
Germany, increasing the attractiveness of our MA programme among
prospective
students. Further limitations of the curriculum would have a
negative impact on
student recruitment and finally lead to the closing down of the
whole programme,
due to lack of students.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">The sustainability
of the curriculum has been
critical already since some time. Maintaining the programme has
only been
possible thanks to guest lecturers and language course teachers
who have taken
over tasks in the core subject area – with the consequence that
language
courses have been reduced to a minimum.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Moreover, the
resources now given
in the form of short-term posts will be lost in two years, as
these work
contracts will not be extended. Thus, within foreseeable time we
may no more be
able to guarantee that the students can take all exams included in
our
programme, as we cannot guarantee that the IFUU will have
personnel with
sufficient scholarly qualification.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span lang="EN-US">Thus, in my view, a
further „streamlining“ of
the curriculum cannot be supported by any professional criteria.
Promoting such
ideas testifies to an ignorance which – also taking into account
the style of
communication which the administration of the university has
displayed in this
case – is simply inacceptable.<br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Beáta Wagner-Nagy <br><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<span lang="EN-US"><u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<pre cols="72">--
Prof. Dr. Beáta Wagner-Nagy
Institut für Finnougristik/Uralistik
Universität Hamburg
Johnsallee 35,
20148 Hamburg
Tel: <a href="tel:%2B49-40-42838-2787" value="+4940428382787" target="_blank">+49-40-42838-2787</a> (dienstl.)
Fax: <a href="tel:%2B49-40-42838%206117" value="+4940428386117" target="_blank">+49-40-42838 6117</a>
<a href="mailto:beata.wagner-nagy@uni-hamburg.de" target="_blank">beata.wagner-nagy@uni-hamburg.de</a>
<a href="http://www.uni-hamburg.de/ifuu/" target="_blank">http://www.uni-hamburg.de/ifuu/</a>
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