To Principal Richard Williams, the University Executive and Court
The Department of Languages & Intercultural Studies (LINCS) at Heriot-Watt University is under threat to lose a third of its staff, facing a proposal to make 11 full time jobs (FTE) redundant, close two languages (Chinese and German BA/MA programmes) and eliminate numerous intercultural studies courses.
We write to you as a diverse range of scholars, professionals, students, institutional and individual supporters who wish to make clear that these proposed cuts to LINCS are entirely unacceptable.
Since its foundation in 1970 by the Holocaust survivor Henry Prais, LINCS has become an internationally renowned authority in its translation, interpreting and intercultural studies degrees.
At a time when Heriot-Watt brands itself as a global university at every turn – boasting campuses in Dubai, Malaysia, and possibly soon Saudi Arabia – this effective dismantling of support for the study of language and culture at the main Edinburgh campus would spell irreversible reputational damage as well as a strategic catastrophe for the University.
The new University Strategy 2035 emphasises global education, employability, and institutional partnerships among its core strategic priorities. In each of these areas LINCS exhibit unique and irreplaceable expertise and leadership. The University’s proposed cuts are entirely contradictory to these professed values, and this course of action would abandon many of the University’s most crucial resources for its long-term aspirations.
It is undeniable that we stand at a perilous crossroads for language and cultural education across the UK, with technological developments – especially artificial intelligence – posing a variety of challenges. With its longstanding expertise in the field LINCS is well positioned to further integrate these new technologies responsibly and formulate programmes of study that draw upon its existing pedagogical and research strengths while offering students the opportunity to use and think critically about new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. But the realisation of this future requires a department at full strength, endowed with the capacity for meaningful input regarding its future and, most crucially, the University’s unwavering commitment to linguistic and intercultural diversity.
We demand in the strongest possible terms that no actions are taken to foreclose future learning opportunities for Chinese and German, that course offerings continue to reflect the full range of faculty expertise and student needs, and that compulsory redundancies are barred from consideration.
Sincerely,
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Thank-you all.