Madam, - There are serious misconceptions in Kevin Myers's ill-intentioned and ill-informed attack on Women's Studies at UCD (An Irishman' Diary, March 2nd).
Firstly, far from stirring in his grave, that great educational innovator Newman would have welcomed the emergence of interdisciplinarity as a significant phenomenon of the past two decades in the academic world. Not only has it proved remarkably fruitful in promoting dialogue between disciplines, it has also created productive new approaches and opened up new areas of knowledge and understanding.
It is no coincidence, therefore, that interdisciplinarity has been embraced internationally in the sciences and in the humanities, and is at the forefront of innovative research methodologies and educational policy worldwide.
It is unhelpful and inept of Kevin Myers to conflate interdisciplinarity and the restructuring of UCD. These are quite separate matters.
Secondly, Women's Studies is as academically rigorous as any other discipline. It is regrettable that your columnist is unaware that it is possible to be academically rigorous and politically engaged without being biased or doctrinaire. The Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre at UCD has a well-founded international reputation for excellence in its field.
Established by UCD in 1990, the centre conducts commissioned research on a wide range of issues, including gender and public policy, and also offers a full range of postgraduate and undergraduate courses, all of which are open to both women and men. The programme in Lesbian Studies and Queer Culture to which Kevin Myers refers is part of WERRC's extensive national programme of community outreach education, and was funded by the Education Equality Initiative of the Department of Education and Science. An independent and highly positive evaluation of this new programme was published in 2003. I would be pleased to supply your columnist with a copy.
Finally, I should point out that WERRC is not "unique", as Kevin Myers claims. Women's studies and feminist scholarship are flourishing not only in several other Irish universities, but also worldwide. As a feminist scholar and teacher, I am proud to work in an area which aims to contribute to social change for women and in gender relations through education and research.
For several years now, two of your columnists have been intent on pursuing a vendetta against feminists. They have viciously targeted those who work hard and effectively in many practical ways, through education and research, service provision, community activism and legislative change to create a more just and egalitarian society.
It is easy to attack ideals and idealists, but it is shabby journalism and certainly unworthy of a leading national newspaper. Cheap jibes are no substitute for intelligent critique and informed debate. - Yours, etc.,
AILBHE SMYTH, Director, Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre, UCD, Dublin 4.