It's only a matter of weeks since the University of Sheffield's administration moved to close down its internationally renowned Department of Biblical Studies. Due to a concerted campaign on the ground at Sheffield, and with support all over the world, that decision was reversed. Well, now another British university department is similarly under threat from the university's own administration, and one of our good friends has heard today that his post has been terminated.
Lloyd Pietersen is Senior Lecturer and Research Coordinator in New Testament Studies in the Department of Humanities at the University of Gloucestershire. For those who do don't know him, Lloyd is a first class scholar, a fine teacher, and a delightful person, a massive asset to the university. It is unthinkable that they would let someone like Lloyd go.
So what can we do? To begin with, we can pull out all the stops and inundate both Paul Bowler (pbowler@glos.ac.uk) and Patricia Broadfoot (vc@glos.ac.uk) with notice of the damage to research and the university's reputation.
Tweet it, facebook it and fellow bloggers, let's get the word out.
Save Lloyd! This is such a travisty. I've had a rant on my blog too..for what good it will do...
ReplyDeleteive replicated your post mark. let's get word out. i'll also post a note to various facebook groups as well and the biblical studies list.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think these things do help, Helen. Look at Sheffield. Good rant, though, Helen. I suppose I figured in that somewhere in that I wasn't really replaced in Birmingham, was I?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jim.
Well I suspected that things were going awry when you were not replaced :) It sent out some worrying signals.
ReplyDeleteMark, thank you so much for your support in this. Lloyd has been an incredible supervisor for me. The University has no idea what they're doing, and certainly no idea who they're losing.
ReplyDelete