Madam, - Women's studies at NUI Galway has a proven track record of teaching excellence, outreach education, research and publishing. It is now at risk of being swallowed whole in a predatory manner by the department of political science and sociology. This can be compared to the Irish department being subsumed within the English department, with the latter controlling its teaching and making all of its decisions.
Prof Kevin Barry's disingenuous letter of March 8th flags the fact that two new appointments are about to be advertised for women's studies "to provide academic leadership". He says that a "large investment" is being made in the programme. He does not disclose that the "investment" has already been funded and that those two posts belong to women's studies already. If they are indeed women's studies posts we would ask him to clarify if the centre (and that is a vital word) is not closing; who constitutes the staff; what is the relationship of the new post-holders to the centre; what is the role of the centre in choosing new appointees and its role in implementing, monitoring and developing teaching women's studies at NUI Galway.
Great issue must also to be taken with his comment that there were 15 months of "full consultation and discussion" on the proposed restructuring. This consultation must have been behind the scenes as the staff of the centre were not included in the discussions, and were in effect presented with a fait accompli.
- Yours, etc,
MARY MANGAN, (Spokesperson, Save Women's Studies Coalition), Moycullen, Co Galway.
Madam, - I regret that Prof Pat O'Connor (March 10th), dean of humanities and professor of sociology at the University of Limerick (UL), did not consult NUI Galway before attacking our decision which, far from diminishing the discipline of women's studies, will ensure its strong affiliation with the social sciences.
Her own university website - http://www.ul.ie/sociology/ - shows that our decision follows precisely the same kind of arrangement for which she is responsible at UL. I am glad that Prof O'Connor reassures us that she is committed to teaching and research in the relationships between women, public policy, gender, inequality and power. NUI Galway, in furtherance of its own sustained commitment to these exact fields, is in the process of advertising two new lectureships in women's studies.
- Yours etc,
Prof KEVIN BARRY, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, NUI Galway.
Madam, - Given her keen interest in gender equality in the Irish third-level system I presume we can take it that Prof Pat O'Connor is working hard to ensure that, within her own college, there is no imbalance in the resources allocated to the study of men's and women's lives?
- Yours, etc,
T KINDLON, Beechpark Lawn, Dublin 15.