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Posted on behalf of APA President Kathleen M. Coleman
Dear APA members,
Many of you will be aware of the drastic cuts threatening the Department of Classics and Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London.
As the APA's immediate response to this crisis, the Board of Directors has taken the following steps. First, together with John Miller, Chair of the APA's Classics Advisory Service, I am composing a letter to send to the Principal of Royal Holloway protesting against these proposals. Second, Ruth Scodel, a former President of the APA, will be in the UK on September 16 and has agreed to represent the APA at a symposium in London that day celebrating Classics at Royal Holloway and Bedford (Bedford College having merged with Royal Holloway College in 1985); Professor Scodel will be a powerful presence, and I am most grateful to her for representing us.
At the following URL you will find a summary of the proposed cuts at the bottom, and scrolling up you will find a request for letters of support, a link to a petition, details of the symposium on September 16, an outline of the Department's response to the cuts, and other material:
I think it is extremely important for us to stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Classicists in the UK to defend our subject, and I would therefore ask you to consider signing the petition, as I and many others have already done. Here is a direct link to it:
Thank you very much indeed for considering raising your voice in defense of Classics at Royal Holloway.
In the belief that every voice can make a difference, and with best wishes to you all,
Kathleen M. Coleman
James Loeb Professor of the Classics, Harvard University
President, American Philological Association