Caribbean Studies at London Met threatened

Campaign to halt closure of Caribbean Studies Undergraduate Course.

The GPI learnt this week that the London Met Undergraduate course - the only one that exists in the UK as far as we know - is under threat of closure by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. In response we at the GPI have sent the letter below. If you would like to send your own letter of protest please see the entries below our letter for background information and a list of email addresses to send it to.

To Whomever It May Concern

We are writing on behalf of the George Padmore Institute to protest most strongly against the threatened closure due to funding cuts of the Caribbean Studies Department at the London Metropolitan University.

The closure of the Caribbean Studies Department at London Metropolitan will mean, as far as we are aware, the ending of Caribbean Studies as an undergraduate course throughout the UK. In other words if the Caribbean Studies Department at London Met closes that will be the end of Caribbean Studies as an undergraduate option throughout the UK. Is this what the Higher Education Funding Council for England wants?
The closure of this department, even though it is small, will have a much greater detrimental effect nationally, in a way in which the closure of a more widely available subject such as politics or history would not.
The Caribbean Studies Department has been in existence for 21 years being first started at the North London Polytechnic. Over those years it has catered for a wide range of students not just the typical undergraduate straight out of school. Many of its students have been mature, of Caribbean, Black British and European origin, often returning to study after starting families. This has been a vital and important contribution of the Caribbean Studies Department.
These mature students, returning to study many years after leaving school, could not necessarily complete the three year degree course in three years. The modular approach, which depended on completing a set number of modules rather than completing in a set time period, together with support such as nursery provision was a very important contribution from the London Metropolitan University to supporting such mature students to achieve.
Is it now the policy of the London Met and the Higher Education Funding Council for England to discourage such mature students?
The George Padmore Institute is an archive, educational research and information centre housing materials relating mainly to the black community of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in Britain and continental Europe. We are constantly made aware that knowledge and appreciation of the history and culture of different groups within British society is of the utmost importance to all members of the British population. Cutting Caribbean Studies out of the available options for undergraduate students appears to us to be a step in totally the wrong direction.

We hope very much that the powers that be at the London Metropolitan University and the Higher Education Funding Council for England will reconsider their proposal to phase out Caribbean Studies as well as cut back Spanish and Latin American Studies, placing the Caribbean Studies Centre under threat, as also the International Institute for the Study of Cuba.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Michael La Rose Chairperson

Background Information and email addresses to send your letters to;

Case for the Retention of Caribbean Studies at London Met

Caribbean Studies delivers a unique blend of multidisciplinary area studies expertise in undergraduate and postgraduate provision, with proven excellence in research, outreach in academia and beyond, and service to community, media, government, and business at local, national, regional and international levels. We therefore request a reversal of the proposal of the Faculty of Humanites, Arts, Languages and Education to phase out the programme.

Caribbean Studies Undergraduate and Postgraduate Provision

The undergraduate degree programme, in existence for 21 years, was from the outset primarily to provide African Caribbean students with a knowledge of the Caribbean and its diasporas, especially their own UK community. Students combine the programme with a range of subjects to maximise employability: currently, Education, English, French, History, Law, Media, Music, Psychology, Spanish and Latin American Studies, and Tourism. Students on International Business, International Relations, Events Management and other programmes, as well as Study Abroad students, are also attracted to the University over others by the possibility of taking Caribbean Studies modules. Since its inception, some 450 students have graduated in Caribbean Studies per se, many of them as majors, and with a small but significant number excelling in postgraduate study and securing high profile employment. While a 2006-7 blip resulted in small current final year numbers, recruitment recovered in 2007-8 and remained stable in 2008-9. Postgraduate provision began in 1996 with a Caribbean pathway on the Masters in Research, which led to an MPhil/PhD programme, initiated by two outstanding former undergraduate students with AHRB scholarships. This has attracted a growing number of excellent students, including from overseas, several partially or wholly funded.

Caribbean Studies Centre, Research & Postgraduate Study

The highly successful RAE2008 American Studies submission featured 10% of research outputs rated 4* and 15%*, with 25% of esteem falling into each of those categories. The Unit of Assessment, one of four of five areas in the University demonstrating resilience and development in research, was described as making a 'world-leading contribution' and will earn the University £75k pa in 2009-2013 (£60k for research and £15k for postgraduate supervision). This was the outcome of a strategy launched in 2002 to build on the teaching programme to develop a Caribbean Studies Centre and American Studies cross-disciplinary research. Core specialisms in historical, literary, and cultural studies were broadened to embrace the sciences and social sciences, bridging Caribbean/Latin American divides and nurturing comparative research linking Commonwealth, Trans-Atlantic, and Asian Studies. The Centre hosted the presidency of the regional Caribbean Studies Association (2001-3), and spearheaded two major feasibility studies, on Greater Caribbean research and postgraduate needs, with the Association of Caribbean States and Association of Caribbean research Institutes and Universities (2004), and on HE environmental policy, with a special focus on small island states, the majority of which are in the Caribbean (2006). A Commodities of Empire Project was launched with the Open University's Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies (2007) and was selected to be funded as a British Academy Research Project (2007-12). A portfolio of publications, research funding, and partner initiatives, all attracted scholars of national and international repute as Associate and Visiting Fellows and have served to strengthen national and international postgraduate interest.

Outreach

A strong academic profile has been maintained through publications, editorial work on prestigious journals, service on peer-review and research bodies and as members of learned institutes, organising and hosting high-profile events, and participating in conferences at home and abroad. Beyond academia, colleagues are called on by the media, HMG FCO, business and NGOs to give expert opinion, and by colleges and schools to raise awareness in minority achievement. Through a wide network of alumni and local community groups and interests, our work over the years has contributed to enhance not only Caribbean Studies but also the University as a whole. London Met today boasts the largest grouping of African Caribbean students, outstripping the Russell Group as a whole, and therefore the potential damage to the University’s reputation goes far beyond Caribbean Studies per se. Indeed, it could be extremely damaging to the institution as a whole not to consider Caribbean Studies and the Caribbean Studies Centre as important to London Met’s long-term recovery strategy, given the key role it is playing and can play in the future development of home and overseas collaborative relations with a widening number of other universities, throughout the Americas and Europe, and globally.

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In the face of severe financial difficulties occasioned by the clawback of funding on the part of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, London Metropolitan University is proposing to phase out Caribbean Studies, as well as cut back Spanish and Latin American Studies, placing the Caribbean Studies Centre under threat, as also the International Institute for the Study of Cuba, and with redundancies imminent. In light of this, please see the attached Case for the Retention of Caribbean Studies and address your own expressions of concern and support in the form of an email to the following:

Dr Bob Aylett

Acting Vice Chancellor & Chief Executive

London Metropolitan University

r.aylett@londonmet.ac.uk

Professor Paul Lister

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Development)

London Metropolitan University

paul.lister@londonmet.ac.uk

Mr Roddy Gallacher

Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education

London Metropolitan University

r.gallacher@londonmet.ac.uk