The administration of Simmons University has said that it is planning to close the schoolโs Department of Philosophy and end its major program.
Philosophy is one of several departments targeted.
โNo decisions are final yet,โ reports The Boston Globe, adding that โa final plan will be presented to the universityโs board in October after university leaders meet with all departments.โ
The university, which is women-only at the undergraduate level (but not for its graduate degrees), is facing financial constraints owed partly to what seems like a very bad deal it made with the online learning company 2U, according to which the company gets 50 to 62 percent of the tuition paid by each student in its online programs. According to the Globe, more than half of Simmonsโ graduate students are in such online programs. The contract with 2U was made in 2013 and renewed (!) in 2018 for another 21 years.
Faculty were apparently instructed by the administration not to talk to the press. One professor, speaking anonymously to theย Globe, says: โCutting out the humanities and social sciences is like cutting out the heart and then seeing if the body will still walk.โ
The current president of Simmons, Lynn Perry Wooten, has an academic specialization in โcrisis leadership.โ
The post Philosophy Threatened at Simmons University first appeared on Daily Nous.
Yeshiva University has said it is a religious institution, not an educational institution. But that raises questions about whether it can receive public funds designated for schools.
โThe problem is that the whole process has been secret,โ said John Ruff, left, a former English professor opposed to Valparaisoโs plan to sell paintings. Richard Brauer, right, a former art professor whom the schoolโs museum is named after, said, โIt really does outrage me.โ