Posted on 02/11/2010 3:19:42 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Academics have attacked a decision by a top university to scrap research into English history before 1700.
It was claimed that the move by Sussex University risked jeopardising the nation’s understanding of the subject and “entrenching the ignorance of the present”.
Under plans, research and in-depth teaching into periods such as the Tudors, the Middle-Ages, Norman Britain, the Viking invasion and the Anglo-Saxons will be scrapped, along with the Civil Wars.
The university will also end research into the history of continental Europe pre-1900, affecting the study of the Napoleonic wars and the Roman Empire.
The university said it was “reshaping” its curriculum and research following a £3m cut in Government funding.
Last week, universities across the country were told their budgets were to be slashed by £449 million next year, including a £215m reduction in teaching funding, with threats of further cuts in the future.
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has claimed that institutions can use the opportunity to focus resources on their strongest areas.
But in a letter to The Daily Telegraph, 17 leading historians said the move was short-sighted and risked undermining the public’s understanding of the past.
“To cut everything but the most modern puts in peril the public function of history, entrenching the arrogance of the present and making a mockery of the claim by the
minister behind these cuts that 'we also wish to keep this country civilised',” said the letter.
The academics, who all trained at Sussex, said that the decision to sever ties with European history before 1900 was a particularly retrograde step.
“For a university which has long prided itself on its European links to abandon the serious study of such pivotal areas of modern history as the French Revolution will mean depriving Sussex graduates of the mental furniture of educated
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Oops!
But, being a Norman king, William the first, by the Saxons he conquered, was hated and cursed, so he rang the curfew, a sort of a bell, that if any Saxon was caught out of bed afer eight o'clock sharp, it was off with his head."
From a childhood book of English Kings.
Abandoning history is prelude to national suicide.
Most of the Tower would be similarly erased, yet there it is...
“No Robin Hood.”
Tell the lefties that he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. That ought to drive ‘em nuts!;)
Can we assume their drama dept. threw out all their Shakespeare as well?
In 1060?
Up till now, though, you could always count on Britons to take an interest in history -- and the more obscure the era the better. There's always somebody who has a diorama of Roman Britain or the Siege of Naumur in the basement or a model of Nelson's Victory in the den, just like there's always somebody who will stand for hours in the rain trainspotting. That won't die out any time soon.
History just got lots less fun.
NO MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL???!!!!??? I expected a lesson plan, not the Spanish Inquisition!
If no English History pre-1700; and no European History pre-1900, then the Napoleonic Wars will occur in a vacuum, with England sending ships under Nelson, and troops under Wellington somewhere not mentioned, for a purpose not explained, with an unknown result, and no explicable future consequences?
This is all a political maneuver. Our teachers over here in the U.S. practice the same baloney. Whenever their funding is cut back, they choose to cut those subjects that are guaranteed to gall the public the most. Usually, music, physical education, the arts, or after school programs, or whatever. So, this University chose to eliminate a group of courses that was going to make the biggest splash in the MSM and have the greatest negative effect, in order to draw “attention” to their financial plight. All in hopes of getting their full funding back, or some of it. A political ploy, as simple as that.
Newsflash: funding cuts lead to ignorance.
I’m sure they will keep gay studies, women’s studies, black history, Mohammet, etc... ad nauseum.
Still witnessing the Death of Western Civilization from a front row seat. Nothing has changed there. The west has its head in the noose and is jumping.
Question:
Is communist infiltration in British schools even further along than US schools?
removing the Magna Carta from British history would remove one of the main pillars from the foundation.
No, not insanity in the least. It is a deliberate plan to eliminate western freedom and institute communism. The communists are not insane. They know precisely what they are intending to do.
True that. I would not say “so it begins. It seems to have begun here and in Europe at least by the 1960s if not back to before WWII. Hardly a beginning, it has been going on for decades. This is merely the latest salvo.
Look how long we have been emphasizing Dr. King and Caesar Chavez over George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, except to note their slave-owning.
How “gay” is good, and how little boys should behave like little girls.
Yes they can. Those who control the books and minds of the young can do exactly that. They can create history from whole cloth. It is easy. Suppress the truth and substitute what you want children to think is true.
Oh, there are cracks at the seams, but overall, you can control the minds of an entire generataion, just as President Lincoln said.
No, they can absolutly make history go away by re-writing the history books. That is the goal. Freedom never happend. Democracy never happened. The contributions of the old white guys of the West never happened. That is the goal.
“As long as 1776 was included in limey history, I have no problems with it.”
Good One!!!
North Carolina public schools to cut 400 years out of US History (Freep article 2-11-10)
Coincidence? Things like these are called tells. Using a different tack to get to the same goal, destroy Western Civilization. Ultimately going for the jugular- Christianity, the only truth. Yes, we are in a spiritual fight. It’s great being the good guys!
“This is all a political maneuver. “
I think you are right, but the way things are going over there, you never can tell if trashing the history of the English people is imminent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.