SSHRC-winning students of the Centre to the President of SSHRC

Dear Dr. Chad Gaffield:

We write to you as recipients of funding from the Social Science Humanities Research Council to ask for your support once again. The Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Toronto has announced the “disestablishment” of the Centre for Comparative Literature.

As you might have seen, this story has found its way into the media and recently appeared on the front page of the Globe and Mail (July 13, 2010). Likewise, Noreen Golfman, President of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, has protested the decision (see attached letter). As well, the petition to Save Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto has nearly 5,200 signatures from academics and concerned citizens around the world.

As recipients of SSHRC, we are requesting that the Social Science and Humanities Research Council join us in protesting the recommendation of the Dean of Arts and Sciences. The closure of the Centre for Comparative Literature will be detrimental to research in the humanities and social sciences at the University of Toronto and will also affect scholars across Canada and around the world. All of us write to you as well to inform you that our research could only take place at the Centre for Comparative Literature. The possibility to complete our research – the research funded by SSHRC – is being threatened by the decisions of the Dean of Arts and Sciences.

Yours truly,

Jonathan A. Allan
SSHRC Doctoral Fellow
Centre for Comparative Literature
University of Toronto, Canada

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

Natalie Bosco
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholar, Master’s
Centre for Comparative Literature
University of Toronto, Canada

Ryan Culpepper
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar
Centre for Comparative Literature
University of Toronto, Canada

Julie Parisien
SSHRC Doctoral Fellow
Centre for Comparative Literature
University of Toronto, Canada

Lukasz Wodzynski
SSHRC Doctoral Fellow
Centre for Comparative Literature
University of Toronto, Canada

CC: President David Naylor, University of Toronto
Provost Cheryl Misak, University of Toronto
Dean Meric Gertler, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Toronto
Dean Brian Corman, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto
Vice-Dean Robert Baker, Research and Graduate Programs, 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
Noreen Golfman, President of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Save Comparative Literature Campaign