Comment on the Faculty of Humanities' statement on the planned Bavarian Higher Education Act
This article was originally published in German. The English version is an automatic translation and may contain errors. The German original is authoritative.
"As members of the Faculty of Human Sciences (…) [we want] scientific education in which research and teaching are guaranteed at the highest level and are interlocked with one another."
We humanities students are already being discriminated against anyway: instead of being valued appropriately, everything to do with people (whether (So)Ped, Psycho, Reli, Philo, PSS, Sport, etc.) is thrown into one pot, the "Human Sciences". As a result, we are the largest faculty, but without real recognition and low standing, because unfortunately we contribute far too little to the university's excellence.
And this, despite the fact that we have at least just as great a significance for society.
And now the Bavarian Higher Education Act wants to deprive us of even more of our foundations.
Here are the expected consequences for humanities students:
1. Risk of economisation (Research is to serve economic viability even more)
2. Undermining of core university tasks (It is about (economic) results, which make basic research obsolete, even though this is a cornerstone of teaching)
3. Academic freedom is sacrificed for apparent independence (Instead of "freedom" through deregulation, we bind ourselves to the market. Research must prove its viability)
4. Scientific quality is measured only by economic, quantitative parameters (Productivity takes precedence over the quality of science. This comes at the expense of subject areas that do not demonstrate good scientific viability ← Why would they?! We are humanities students!!)
5. Risk of conflicts of interest (Particularly affects the "impartial" civil service, which is nevertheless supposed to aim for more business start-ups)
6. The state must not withdraw from its task (The state should be responsible for higher education, rather than being controlled by the market. Higher education is incompatible with economic external determination. The consequence would be financing pressure on research and teaching)
7. Democratic participation is undermined (As students, we have nothing to say anyway without the AStA. It will only get worse. Only the university leadership has any say at all. We as humanities students stand up for equal rights and are continuously discriminated against – what's going on?!)
8. Marginalisation of teaching (Teaching is seen as ballast that hinders economic viability. Consequence: conflicts between research and teaching)
9. Inadequate legal status of student representation (Student representatives have been campaigning for years for a constituted student body in order to finally have a say. (Bavaria, right -.-) But instead of improving the situation with the Higher Education Act, we are being fobbed off with a "fig leaf".
Conclusion:
A lot of rubbish, more risks than benefits → Let's not do this.
(And these are only the points for humanities students)
We study not to serve the economy. We study to improve society!
→ That's why sign the petition!!
Source: https://www.hw.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/06000000/Fakultaet/HIG-StellungnahmeHW-201221-kurz4S.pdf
Leonie Keupp