Classical Association of Canada / Société
canadienne des études anciennes
CAC / SCEC Home Page
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C A N A D I A N C L A S S I C A L
B U L L E T I N
C A N A D I E N D E S E T U D E S A N C I E N N E S
VOLUME/TOME 5,
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SPECIAL RELEASE NO. 4 / BULLETIN SPECIAL NO 4,
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1998 10 10
Published by e-mail by the Classical Association of Canada/
Publie par courrier electronique par la
societe canadienne des etudes classiques
President: J.I. McDougall, University of Winnipeg
IAIN.MCDOUGALL@UWINNIPEG.CA
Secretary/Secretaire: I.M. Cohen, Mount Allison University
ICOHEN@MTA.CA
Treasurer/Tresorier: C. Cooper, University of Winnipeg
CRAIG.COOPER@UWINNIPEG.CA
Edited by/redige par
K.H. Kinzl, Trent University
KKINZL@TRENTU.CA
http://www.trentu.ca/cac/ ISSN 1198-9149
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UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
MESSAGE FROM PROFESSOR JOHN PORTER
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Editor's prefatory remarks:
John Porter sent the appended message to Classics-Canada. I distribute it
also as a special issue--with John's permission--because CCB / BCEA reaches
more readers than Classics-Canada.
I also use this opportunity to remind or inform CCB / BCEA subscribers of
the existence of Classics-Canada, our discussion list.
Classics-Canada can be found via the CAC / SCEC home page or directly:
CAC / SCEC home page:
http://ivory.trentu.ca/www/cl/cac/welcome.html
Classics-Canada home page:
http://ivory.trentu.ca/www/cl/cac/cc/cc-welcome.html
At the latter site you find a brief introduction and instructions on how to
subscribe. As opposed to CCB / BCEA, subscription to Classics-Canada is
"automatised" in the same way it is with most lists.
Please, explore, and, please, if you find the contents interesting,
subscribe.
K.H. Kinzl
PS: PLEASE do not send COMMENTS to the address from which this
bulletin was mailed (with the reply command) but ONLY TO CLASSICS-CANADA
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From: IN%"porterj@duke.usask.ca" "John R. Porter" 8-OCT-1998 19:42:57.38
To: IN%"classics-canada@trentu.ca"
CC:
Subj: Univ. of Saskatchewan Classics Dept
The Department of Classics at the University of Saskatchewan has been
informed that it is slated for the deletion of one faculty position by the
year 2006 (potentially much earlier, should any of our faculty opt for the
University's early retirement package, as may well happen). Since our
current programs cannot be delivered with a complement of 3 tenured
faculty, we have been instructed to merge with a larger unit or face much
more dire consequences. The plan currently on the table is to merge us
with our Department of Religious Studies, which currently consists of 3
members, all of whose research interests center on eastern religions. (The
department also teaches Western religions through joint arrangements with
various local institutions, most notably St. Thomas More College.) The
plan is to have this new unit of 6 faculty develop a new amalgamation of
courses and (presumably) research interests that will result in a
revitalization of both of the older units in a new, unified guise.
Whatever arrangement is finally developed is unlikely to include languages
in any significant fashion, since teaching loads are to be strictly
limited to 2.5 full courses per year (presumably 1.5 in the case of the
department head, whom we must assume would occasionally come from the
Classics side).
We would appreciate remarks or comments from any on the list re the likely
success of such a union. One concern that might not occur to some has to
do with the reality of how departments and programs earn their keep these
days. We have been told quite bluntly that majors and graduate students
will be two of the principal factors in deciding a unit's fate (the other
being scholarly activity: no talk of serving the broader community of
students, preserving the Western heritage, etc., please). At present,
Classics has relatively few of the former (apart from our joint program in
Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology) and none of the latter. Having
served for some years in a beleaguered department of 5 (now 4) that has
been compelled constantly to battle for its right to exist, we are leery
about entering into a union that could well result in a similar but much
less distinct small department: I would not like to be writing a similar
letter to this list re the fate of "Classics and Religious Studies" in ten
years' time.
Comments, advice, or detailed accounts of comparable ventures elsewhere
would be most welcome.
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John Porter
Department of Classics
University of Saskatchewan
porterj@duke.usask.ca
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NEXT REGULAR ISSUE: 1998 10 15. Deadline: 1998 10 10
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