miércoles, 22 de octubre de 2014

Asian Studies programs threatened at Copenhagen University

Dear colleagues,

I am writing you today in a sad affair. Several Asian Studies programs at the University of Copenhagen are threatened with closure.

All of a sudden the Danish Minister for Education, Chrstine Antorini, has issued orders to reduce the intake of students on an MA level by 30%, which would, due to Danish laws, automatically mean an even larger cut (up to 50%!) in the B.A. intake. For many of the subjects at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, where our programs are located, the plans announced by the Ministry and to be implemented by the Faculty are a disaster. The plan would mean that for instance Tibetan Studies could be completely closed down next year.

The plans of Mrs. Chrstine Antorini would also be a disaster for many other small subjects such as Hebrew, Eskimo, and American Indian Studies, but also for Indian, Korean, and South-East Asian Studies. Such cultures and languages with their long and rich history would all of a sudden not be represented anymore in the academic landscape of Denmark. I don’t need to tell you that this would have catastrophic consequences for how these cultures would be in future represented in the media and in politics in Denmark.

I would therefore like to ask you to voice concern about this development to the Minister of Education, Chrstine Antorini, and to the leadership of Copenhagen University. Their addresses are given below.

If you have any questions in this regard, you are welcome to contact me or our Institute leader, Dr. Ingolf Thuesen, directly.

Best regards,

Jan-Ulrich Sobisch
Tibetan Studies, Copenhagen University

Addresses:
Prof. Dr. Ingolf Thuesen: i-leder.tors@hum.ku.dk

Chrstine Antorini
The Ministry of Education
Frederiksholms Kanal 21
1220 Copenhagen K
Denmark
minister@uvm.dk

President of the University of Copenhagen
Ralf Hemmingsen
rektor@adm.ku.dk

Please kindly provide us with a copy, if you decide to write a letter for our support.
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Dr. phil. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch
Associate Professor for Tibetan Studies
Erasmus Coordinator / ToRS
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
University of Copenhagen
Karen Blixens vej 4, Bygning 10, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
Tel. office: +45 51 30 29 97
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