July 21, 2010
President David Naylor
University of Toronto
Simcoe Hall, Room 2006
King’s College Circle
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1A1
Dear President Naylor:
You are currently receiving many letters protesting the Strategic Planning Committee’s proposed “disestablishment” of University of Toronto’s Centre for Comparative Literature; meanwhile, our petition has been signed by Margaret Atwood, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and more than 5,000 other concerned citizens from all over the world. There has been much discussion about the Centre’s international reputation, the legacy of its founder Northrop Frye, and its continued excellence in research and teaching. However, I write to you as someone who is personally affected by this proposal. As I begin my second year of the PhD, I am outraged that this excellent centre has been recommended for reduction to a collaborative program – essentially, a graduate minor in literary theory that will no longer permit the interdisciplinary work that makes comparative literature so important for the humanities.
My decision to move from the US to Canada and study at the Centre was the result of many years’ thought and deliberation. As an undergraduate I had the excellent fortune of studying at Sarah Lawrence College, which is known for its commitment to individualized and interdisciplinary study. While I mainly focused on English literature, I also studied Spanish, Polish and philosophy while taking some courses in the social sciences. To me, this multi-disciplinary approach to the humanities was the only one that made sense; rather than studying one narrow field in isolation, I was able to explore the relationships between different areas while focusing on specific topics in depth.
When my professors first urged me to pursue advanced study, I was interested but hesitant. I did not know which discipline to pursue- literature or philosophy? And if I were to choose literature, then should I focus on English or Spanish, or perhaps even Polish? When several of my teachers encouraged me to study comparative literature, I saw it as the ideal opportunity to continue the kind of work that I had begun. The task of writing academic papers (and ultimately a dissertation) would compel me to develop a focused area of specialization; however, I would also have the chance to retain my diverse academic interests and even develop some new ones.
As I began researching programs, U of T’s Centre for Comparative Literature immediately caught my attention as especially strong. And, when I began the MA in 2008, all my impressions were proved true. By this point I had chosen to focus on Latin American and Polish literature, and courses in those departments allowed me to increase my general knowledge of these areas. But, it was the courses offered by the Centre itself that really allowed me to explore the relationships between them while gaining a strong base in diverse philosophical and critical approaches.
What has impressed me most about the Centre, however, is its dedication to quality teaching and mentoring of students. From my first meeting with the Graduate Coordinator, I could see that the Centre’s faculty were truly dedicated to teaching. The guidance, encouragement and constructive criticism that I have received during my first two years here prove to me that our faculty genuinely care about their students’ academic growth and professional futures. Unfortunately, not all of my colleagues at other universities can say the same. And, this dedication on the part of the faculty is reflected in the students’ work. I am constantly impressed by my colleagues’ publications, conference presentations, awards, and let’s not forget, their teaching in various undergraduate programs across the humanities and social sciences. I am not surprised that even in this extremely competitive job market, the Centre’s graduates continue to find work.
I echo other international students when I say that I would not have come to the University of Toronto for any program other than this one. While U of T has many strong departments, the Centre for Comparative Literature offers opportunities for innovative scholarship that simply wouldn’t be possible elsewhere (and which will no longer be possible if it is reduced to a collaborative program). Having read the Strategic Planning Committee’s report, I cannot understand the rationale behind this recommendation. Before I applied to this program, professors various academic institutions assured me that comparative literature was a growing, evolving discipline and that the University of Toronto was an excellent place to pursue it. The signers of our petition –now more than 5,000 - clearly agree. And while we are not ignorant of budgetary concerns, the SPC has stated that they are also committed to maintaining and improving the overall quality of education in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. I fail to understand how this quality can be achieved when this distinguished Centre is lost.
Therefore, I ask that you please re-evaluate the SPC’s proposal and recognize that, contrary to what the report suggests, comparative literature is not a discipline that has already achieved its task; rather, our task is only growing. As the world continues to become more culturally diffuse, some nation states have met with much criticism for building up walls between political borders. The “disestablishment” of the Centre for Comparative Literature threatens to follow this pattern within the university. I assure you that the “new synergies” which Dean Gertler expects to come out of the proposed School of Languages and Literatures will be inconsequential when weighed against the loss of our Centre, which currently serves as a meeting place for national languages and literatures as well as cultural studies, philosophy, sociology, political science, visual arts and more. Our tasks may be changing, but these changes make our discipline more relevant than ever. I hope that you will concur.
Sincerely,
Jeannine M. Pitas
PhD Student
Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Toronto
CC: President David Naylor, University of Toronto
Provost Cheryl Misak, University of Toronto
Dean Meric Gertler, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Toronto
Vice-Dean Robert Baker, Research and Graduate Programs, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Toronto
Vice-Dean Stephen Rupp, Faculty and Academic Life, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Toronto
Dr. Neil ten Kortenaar, Director, Centre for Comparative Literature
Dr. Jill Ross, Graduate Coordinator, Centre for Comparative Literature
Graduate Students of the Centre for Comparative Literature
Save Comparative Literature Campaign
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