The closure of Middlesex Universities philosophy department

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/17/philosophy-closure-middlesex-university


The report that Middlesex University plans to end undergraduate teaching of philosophy may not seem especially newsworthy. Philosophy is often under threat, particularly in the new universities. Stories spread from time to time of impending departmental closures, although rumours of demise have usually turned out to be greatly exaggerated. But it is not hard to understand why a university might consider axing provision in any subject area. If a department is losing key staff, if it is failing to recruit students or attract research funding, or if it does poorly in the Research Assessment Exercise, then it will be vulnerable. The surprise at Middlesex is that by all of these standards the department is in robust health.
Those protesting the closure point out that in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise philosophy at Middlesex was ranked a very impressive 14th out of all philosophy submissions, the highest of all post-1992 universities and, apparently, the highest ranking of any of Middlesex's departments. It has a very large MA programme and previously received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for a major research project. By any public standard it is a success story.