MOVING TO FRONT FROM FRIDAY, FEB. 25--PLEASE SIGN IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY
Philosophers David Curry and Tim Murphy, both tenured faculty at the Potsdam campus of the State University of New York system, write:
We have been informed by upper administration, in the Academic Affairs Realignment Report they shared with Faculty Senate on February 17th, 2022, that the philosophy major program is included on a list of programs determined to go into “immediate provisionary status” (it appears we were spared “immediate discontinuation”). The terms of those “provisions” make it abundantly clear that the termination of the program is imminent. That is, “provisionary status” is really a death sentence for the major. This is further confirmed by the “recommendation” that the department be dissolved and the faculty merged with some other department by the end of the semester. As documented extensively below, the administration has no good reason for making these decisions, and plenty of good reasons to overturn them.
The link to the webpage is www.sunypotsdamphilosophy.com
To the petition: https://www.change.org/p/dr-philip-neisser-save-suny-potsdam-philosophy
Please sign! If the smaller state universities can end their philosophy programs with impunity, the already desperate jobs situation will get even worse for newly minted PhDs. Do remember the apt comments of philosopher Steve Hales (Bloomsburg U in the Pennsylvania state system):
Authentic higher education is not just worker training for businesses. Philosophy has been the central discipline of universities since Plato’s Academy. We invented logic, systematic ethics, and the natural sciences—philosophy is not some ephemeral, boutique area of study but the heart of the university. Young Pennsylvanians [and New Yorkers--ed.] deserve the chance to improve their lives through the study of philosophy, and not just if they are privileged enough to go to U. Penn or Swarthmore [or Columbia or Vassar--ed.]....
It does not matter how many students major in philosophy; we will never attract as many as fields that are the names of jobs. What matters is that students have the choice....
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