Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent announces suspension of provision degree in english literature I ran a few rabbits, most of them running in the wrong direction. The university effectively said the course was no longer viable as few people wanted to study English literature at degree level anymore. If you can’t do EngLit in the town of Chaucer and Marlowe, where can you do it?
The story of Canterbury is well known. EngLit is on wholesale sale retreat At A-levels, that number has fallen from 83,000 in 2013 to 54,000 in 2023, with declines also seen at universities over the past decade. statistics The subject is controversial, as it is studied at degree level under various names, including creative writing and linguistics. Overall, humanities subjects appear to be losing their appeal, with just 38% of students taking courses in 2021/22, down from nearly 60% from April 2003 to 2015/16. .
Tuition fees and the need to study selected subjects to recoup students' large investments are likely to result in delays in the autumn. of dangerous The financial situation of universities has also led to significant cuts, resulting in the loss of highly reputed universities. chemistry Course at Hull last week. But most worryingly, institutions such as Goldsmiths University, Oxford Brookes University and the University of Surrey have made hundreds of academics redundant, with a wide range of arts and humanities faculties including art, music, drama and dance being made redundant. It is closed.
EngLit may seem like an easy target. Learning Beowulf is no longer as appealing as it was when the state paid for it. Meanwhile, those on the liberal side of the debate are criticizing Michael Gove's 2013. curriculum This reform ushered in an era of content-dense courses assessed by a final exam. Successive Conservative education ministers have also praised science and technology while ridiculing the prospects of liberal arts graduates.
Studying literature is inherently good. Virginia Woolf was frustrated that her father wouldn't send her to college, but she saw books as a way to transcend herself. Universities should be concerned with encouraging rational inquiry and the free play of the intellect. It's not about creating a useful drone, and it's a shame that the tuition makes the experience somewhat transactional. Courses should challenge students by emphasizing deciphering the text rather than superficial skimming.
The closure of Mr Kent's course is in line with a National Literacy Trust report which found that only 35% of children aged eight to 18 enjoy reading for pleasure. , which has decreased by almost 9 percentage points in one year. Reading rates are declining and the gender gap is widening, for reasons ranging from the dominance of social media to library closures and shortened attention spans. (Should we read anything into the brevity of this year's Booker Prize winners? What happened to Our Mutual Friend?) Some school teachers are trying to replace Dickens with social media research. Some suggest, as Evelyn Waugh's Scoop might counter, “Up to a certain point, Lord Copper.”
We should be concerned about the closure of the University of Canterbury's EngLit course. Universities are in a shocking situation, and the new government has only just begun the daunting task of: stabilize Sector. This is not just an institutional failure. It is indicative of a cultural shift that risks leaving future generations without the critical, empathetic, and intellectual tools that literature provides. “There is no friend so faithful as a book,” said Hemingway. Relying on Instagram influencers has its limits. We still need mutual friends.
