Higher Education Advocacy
The Philological Society plays an active role in supporting and promoting the study of languages and linguistics in the UK and abroad. We do this through our academic activities, such as our meetings and our journal, through our funding and support, in particular for early career researchers, and through our advocacy and engagement with higher education policy.
We are a member of several subject organisations and interest groups who support and advocate for modern languages and linguistics, such as the Linguistics Council and the Committee for Linguistics in Education (CLiE).
We regularly write to Vice-Chancellors and other senior university leaders to make the case for languages and linguistics and to offer support to universities where we can, drawing on the expertise of members of Council and the wider Society.
Over the last two years, there have been increasing cases where university departments of language and linguistics have come under threat of substantive reduction or even closure, where degree programmes or language streams have been discontinued and departments merged, reduced or closed. Examples of letters we have sent include to the University of Leicester, the University of Nottingham, Heriot Watt University, and the University of Essex.
In replies from universities, it is often pointed out that there are declining student numbers in modern languages and linguistics, while universities in the UK under increasing financial pressure.
While the Society is well aware of the pressures universities are under, and sympathetic to the difficult situation on which university leaders find themselves, we often point out a number of aspects which are relevant to the situation:
- Languages as part of single, joint or combined honours degrees continue to be in demand, and there is continued need for graduates with high-level language and intercultural skills from business, education, government and non-governmental organisations, the cultural industries, and many other areas.
- Understanding today’s global complexity requires in-depth knowledge of other languages, cultural practices and epistemologies. This is true for global aspirations such as the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as for academic study underpinning it, including interdisciplinary, international research collaborations.
- Teaching and research in languages and linguistics provides important insights into how people use, acquire, process, and change language, both within the UK context and globally. This has far-reaching impact in culture, sustainability, politics, and economics.
- Languages and linguistics play a key role in the UK’s research excellence and soft power. Some of the world’s leading languages and linguistics research comes from UK universities, providing the context for positive perceptions of Britain’s culture and way of life. It is an asset easy to lose and very difficult to rebuild.
There is extensive work by the British Academy demonstrating the value and importance of languages, which can be found here.
We are interested in hearing from any member of the Society who would like to be involved with the Society’s advocacy work or who is in an academic unit currently under threat of closure or restructuring and who would value the Society’s support. Please get in touch with the Hon. Secretary to register your interest or request support.
