Hertfordshire to Eliminate Philosophy from Its Curriculum

In a couple of years, students at the University of Hertfordshire will be unable to take a philosophy course there. The administration has announced a decision to eliminate the whole of the undergraduate philosophy program, according to several sources. The decision cuts not just the philosophy degree program, but, eventually, all philosophy classes. A “teach-out agreement” will be worked out for existing philosophy students, and students who recently signed up to study philosophy in the coming year are having their offers withdrawn. “Teaching will effectively end in two years,” said one source. Philosophy is one of several humanities programs at the university slated to be cut. No layoffs have yet been announced, but are expected, despite the fact that all of the current philosophy faculty are permanent (tenured). Faculty were told that the reason for the decision was “financial”. Details about the decision and how it was reached have not been shared with the faculty, and reportedly there was no faculty input in the process. The closure comes after repeated restructurings and mergers of Philosophy and the rest of the humanities programs over the years. The most recent of these was last summer, when faculty were asked to redesign the Humanities curriculum, amounting to “thousands of collective hours of staff time.” This redesigned curriculum will now not be running. Once the University of Hertfordshire closes its philosophy program, says one source, “Philosophy will no longer be offered anywhere in the county.” The post Hertfordshire to Eliminate Philosophy from Its Curriculum first appeared on Daily Nous.