Helen Beebee (metaphysics), currently at the University of Manchester, has accepted an appointment at the University of Birmingham, where she will be Chair of the Department, charged with rebuilding the program, which had been on the brink of closure. A decade ago, the Birmingham Department had been one of the stronger ones in the UK, but a series of losses (Christopher Hookway and Robert Hopkins went to Sheffield; Harold Noonan and Penelope Mackie went to Nottingham; Jose Zalabardo went to UCL; Alex Miller went to Cardiff, and then on to Macquarie; Gregory McCulloch died) decimated the departmental ranks. As a statement from the British Philosophy Association, which helped save the department, noted:
In recent years the Department has lost a number of senior faculty and earlier this year was down to just four permanent members of Faculty, with closure of the Department under consideration. The BPA was able to offer support to the Department in preparing for a high-level review, and took part in the review process itself.
The outcome has been the decision to restore the Department to its former
strength. In the words of Jeremy Jennings, Professor of Political Theory at
Birmingham, "closure was a serious option and the BPA's involvement was crucial in avoiding this outcome".The BPA regards providing such services to departments as part of its mission, and the earlier we are alerted to any problems the more likely we can make an intervention with positive results.
Recent Comments