[Sealang-l] More on SOAS / Watkins [fwd]

[Doug Cooper]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Randy J. LaPolla <randy.lapolla at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 26, 2022 at 7:51 PM
Subject: [Tibeto-burman-linguistics] Write to support Burmese scholarship
at SOAS

FYI: Write to support Burmese scholarship at SOAS*Date:* 23-Aug-2022
*From:* Justin Watkins <jw2soas.ac.uk>
*Subject:* Write to support Burmese scholarship at SOAS
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Dear Colleagues and friends in Burma Studies -

With concern and sadness I'm sharing the news that the post of Professor of
Burmese at SOAS, University of London, has been scheduled for termination
and, if things go as SOAS plans, more than a century of scholarship and
research in the lanɡuaɡes and linɡuistics of Myanmar and mainland SEAsia
will draw to an end in just over a month. Some very limited Burmese
language teaching may continue for now, but not by me, even after 23 years
of service. It is some comfort that the late ဆရာကြီး John Okell is not
alive to see his legacy being dismantled.

It's not clear why the Professor of Burmese post has been selected for
removal, now that SOAS is under new leadership and recovering well from the
financial meltdown of 2020. It seems particularly at odds with the ethos of
SOAS to be cutting UK scholarship in Burmese at a time when Myanmar is in
such an awful position, and also at odds with the founding charter of SOAS
"to accept a special commitment to language scholarship relating to Asia,
Africa and the Middle East."

I call upon colleagues, former students and all those who would wish SOAS
to reverse this decision to write to the Director or Deputy Director of
SOAS in the most persuasive and supportive way you can, making the case for
keeping the Professor of Burmese post. Do share this news with others who
may wish to voice support, and feel free to email me privately for further
information if you would like.

yours
Justin Watkins
Professor of Burmese
SOAS, University of London

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
Subject Language(s): Burmese (mya)
<https://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/LLDescription.cfm?code=mya>
Language Family(ies): Tibeto-Burman
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