Starting with Melbourne University and spreading around the country like a fire in a library, universities have announced major cuts in arts and humanities departments.
This year, Melbourne University has introduced the Melbourne Model, the most fundamental shift in the university's long history. The Melbourne Model moves to a "two-tiered" system, which will include a three-year broad undergraduate degree, followed by a graduate-level, professional or research degree. A similar system has been in place in the United States for many years and is soon to be adopted in Europe.
The main change will occur at the undergraduate level. Instead of a wide variety of 96 different courses, some of them professional, only six will remain: arts, bio-medicine, commerce, environments, music and science. The courses will all be very broad, generic programs, with less subjects to choose from. All of the professional subjects will move to the graduate level.
The university's arts department has also undergone swift changes. Earlier this year, the faculty announced that several major areas of study will no longer be available, including gender studies. At the beginning of this semester, first-year students arrived at classes to find that 25% of their subjects had been cancelled. It was also reported that more than 100 arts teachers will be cut.
The assaults on arts continued with the announcements of the closing of the Education Resource Centre. Most of its vast catalogue will be transferred into storage, and according to a university vision statement quoted in the August 5 Melbourne Age, its space will be transformed into a "learning hub" with "the comfort of a quality nightclub or airport travellers lounge".
The successful Victoria College of the Arts has also faced massive cuts. The college has been transformed into a faculty of Melbourne University and will no longer offer undergraduate studies.
Another campus suffering from extensive cuts to humanities and social sciences is Latrobe University. In its "Green Paper", the university announced major changes including a reduction in teaching time "by 25% by 2010". In addition, it will offer "fewer units to larger groups of students" in order to "increase efficiency of undergraduate teaching".
Earlier this year, the Queensland University of Technology announced the complete extermination of the school of humanities and human services. The University of New South Wales plans to cut the number of majors offered in its arts faculty by 25% by 2009. Other universities are undergoing "consultations".
These cuts reflect a very deep change in the perception of education and its purposes. In our increasingly privatised economy, education is no longer a right, but a commodity, which leaves little space for areas of study that explore and critique our society.
While the nature of universities has changed for the worse under the Howard government's neoliberal policies, the Labor Party has also stated its support for the Melbourne Model. We must oppose not only Howard's administration, but also the very basic neoliberal shift, which is affecting all areas of our lives and is being promoted by both the major political parties.
There has been increasing student mobilisation in response to the latest attacks. At Melbourne University, some 200 students blockaded a university meeting in the first week of the semester and the following week, 150 students participated in a speakout outside the soon-to-be-closed Education Resource Centre. Other actions have taken place at other universities.
A critical development has been staff members joining the struggle to save the arts faculties. Professor Ron Ridley from Melbourne University's history department spoke to Green Left Weekly about the closing of the ERC. "They are operating like a bank — saying that this branch was closed 'to serve you better'. This is ridiculous", he said.
Melbourne University arts honours student and Resistance activist Laurie Phillips told GLW that "These attacks must be opposed by students. The universities are trying to attack our education for independent thinking, so instead of studying gender and philosophy, we will all study business management and engineering. We must remember that these are public universities, and should be reclaimed by the public. I'm calling everyone who understands the importance of arts and humanities to our society to stand up and say no!"
A national day of action is being organised for August 22.