Academic Boycott of Middlesex University until restoration of philosophy program
- Target:
- Board of Governors, Middlesex University
- Region:
- GLOBAL
- Website:
- savemdxphil.com
On April 26 Middlesex University announced the closure of its highly-ranked and well-respected philosophy program. This closure has no philosophical or pedagogical rationale, and in fact it has no economic justification either: far from losing money, after covering its salary and administrative costs the program contributes more than 50% of its revenue to the central management of the university. But the management unilaterally decided that it could make more money by investing its funds elsewhere. (For an overview of the situation see http://savemdxphil.com/about/).
Despite wide-spread international protest of the closure in the form of thousands of letters and petition signatures, the management has shown no signs of reconsidering its decision. Instead it seems dedicated to censoring all dissent: on May 21 it suspended three faculty members and several students for the 'crime' of campaigning to save their own courses and jobs.
It is time, then, for supporters of Middlesex Philosophy to take a more active stance.
We the undersigned therefore commit ourselves to an academic boycott of Middlesex University until it shows evidence of full reinstatement and continued support for its philosophy program.
Prior to such reinstatement, we will refuse to act as external examiners or to deliver talks at the school. We will encourage colleagues to reject job offers at Middlesex. We will refuse to visit campus for any reason other than to protest the decision to close the philosophy program. We will, in short, cease to engage with Middlesex as a legitimate academic institution.
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The Academic Boycott of Middlesex University until restoration of philosophy program petition to Board of Governors, Middlesex University was written by John Protevi and is in the category Education at GoPetition.