Jim West has an update from an insider source. It is comprehensive and answers some of the questions I raised earlier. It chimes with what has come my way this evening from a horse’s mouth that I trust.
Here’s an excerpt:
There is a general feeling, then, that the move against Biblical Studies is ideological and not financial. The Faculty of Arts has also said that there is to be staff investment in the Arts departments at Sheffield, but not, curiously, Biblical Studies, even if Biblical Studies is turned into a graduate school. Up and down the UK, the first departments typically targeted for cutbacks by incoming management are those involving religion, Bible, and theology because there is simply no idea what happens in such departments and there is the widespread perception that they are simply some form of Sunday school. UK academics know this too well …
Staff losses involved retirements and people moving on. Staff were simply never replaced. In fact a senior NT post was due to be advertised approximately one year ago but this coincided with the new Faculty structure and the new order decided to cancel the NT post. Declining undergraduate intake is misleading. The present Year Three are a record high number. This year the intake number was capped at eight (!) and the Department had to turn students away, including one HEFCE *4 student (i.e. a student from a deprived background and deemed worthy of special consideration) with one grade below (BBC instead of BBB), precisely the sort of student departments are expected to take. At Sheffield, the undergraduate numbers have always fluctuated over the years. The lowest number, graduating in 1990, was followed by years of strong growth. …
If people wish to support the staff and students in Biblical Studies at Sheffield, and if people wish to support the future of Biblical Studies at Sheffield, as well as biblical studies in the UK and beyond, then they are again urged to contact the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Keith Burnett (vc@sheffield.ac.uk) and copy their message to Professor Paul White (P.White@Sheffield.ac.uk).
Read the whole on Jim’s blog. It’s late here now, but I shall be considering what emails to write tomorrow. I hope you will too.
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