Myra Bloom, University of Toronto

Dear President Naylor, Provost Misak, and Dean Gertler,

I am writing to you from Madrid, where I am currently spending a month studying Spanish with my friend and colleague from the Centre for Comparative Literature. The sadness and lack of understanding I feel faced with the potential dissolution of our Centre is magnified given my geographical distance from the epicentre of the decision-making process. Having undertaken this trip in the pursuit of knowledge that will aid me in my studies, I am now confronted with the prospect that upon my return, there very well may be no institutional backing for the work that I do.

The merits of our world-renowned graduate conference, international reputation, and acclaimed students and faculty, have been reiterated over the past several weeks. I am heartened by the support that has been shown in the media, by luminaries in the field, as well as by concerned students and members of the larger university community. At the same time, I am dismayed that the accomplishments of the Centre are being thrown into relief against the grim backdrop of its potential dissolution. Nobody will deny that these are difficult times and certain sacrifices need to be made. Nevertheless, at such times it is likewise true that rigorous intellectual work must more than ever be protected from the forces that would attempt to reduce critical thought to a price tag.

It is deeply worrying that the University of Toronto, which prides itself on its commitment to academic excellence, is revealing itself to be so short-sighted as to dismantle the very assets that safeguard it from becoming a bastion of scholarly conservatism. Smaller, less established institutions such as York and Ryerson rightly pride themselves on their forward-thinking interdisciplinary programmes. Up until this point I have been proud to remind my colleagues at these esteemed institutions that the University of Toronto is also adapting itself to the changing face of contemporary scholarship, promoting interdisciplinary approaches to the study of literature, ethics, and diasporic identities, to name but a selection. I am disappointed and embarrassed to have to concede that my optimism has been misplaced, that the progressive tendencies that were at long last beginning to manifest themselves are being quashed in an epic purge that will re-establish, once and for all, U of T’s fraternity with the right side of the political spectrum. The chimaeric School of Languages and Literatures, the university’s official rhetoric notwithstanding, is not a viable substitute for real interdisciplinarity. While it is true that amalgamation is sometimes an effective cost-saving measure, it is impossible to argue that the administrative savings the university will enjoy can have any effect whatsoever on the nature or calibre of scholarly output.

Lastly, I would like to express my incredulity that ‘too much success’ is the rhetoric being bandied about as a potential justification for the department’s redundancy. If it is the case that the success of the methodologies of a given discipline enjoin its dissolution, I propose that U of T extend this rhetoric across the board: we can cut computer science based on the success of DIY internet applications such as YouTube and Facebook; we can save several billion dollars by eliminating the medical school, as overpopulation belies the excesses of medical science; the Classics department can likewise shut its doors as the Latin language is being safeguarded by biology, botany, as well as the mysteriously untouchable Centre for Medieval Studies.

The value of a graduate department must not be measured by the same utilitarian calculus that determines how many goldfish the university can afford to shelter in the calm ponds of Massey College. Rather, it must be assessed in terms of the work its students and faculty do to promote critical thinking within the university and in an increasingly-interconnected global scholarly community. I strongly urge you to return to the proverbial drawing board and draft a long-term plan that does justice to the mandate of the University of Toronto.

Yours sincerely,

Myra D Bloom
PhD Candidate, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Toronto
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholar, Doctoral