UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
DEPARTMENT OF
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
938 Van Hise Hall
1220 Linden Drive
Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1525
Telephone: 608/262-9767
Fax: 608/262-9723
Email:
June 14, 2007
Dear friends,
Thank you for your many expressions of support over the past difficult year for the Department of Comparative Literature and the discipline it nurtures and develops. I hope the arrival of summer finds you and yours well.
Though we’ve posted occasional updates and additional materials to the departmental website, we wanted to let you know directly of the current status of our ongoing struggle with the campus administration over the future of the Department of Comparative Literature.
As we noted in our 12/22/06 update on the web, it appears that Dean Sandefur has stepped back, for the moment, from his rush to dissolve the Department. Although in two public statements made to the campus press (Daily Cardinal, January 25, 2007) and the local press (Capitol Times, March 13, 2007), Dean Sandefur expressed his intention to see the Department ‘fade away,’ a recent letter (June 4, 2007) from Chancellor Wiley to one of our alumni states:
. . . At this point I do not believe Dean Sandefur intends to take further action to close the Department . . .
(Please see the website for her incisive letter to Chancellor Wiley and for his response.)
We have prevailed on this issue thanks to the steadfastness of our students and the support of our alumni. But the threat of financial asphyxiation – of the administration refusing to support us and simply waiting until we `starve’ to death – still looms large. We must secure administrative support for the Department.
On January 18, 2007, Dean Sandefur’s office requested a progress report on the Department for the L&S Academic Planning Council meeting of January 24. Professor Saíz submitted a brief report to the College of Letters & Science (1/220/07), noting again that:
. . . for several years CL has been working to transform itself to meet the challenges posed by globalization. . . . For more than six years we asked L&S to invest in the transformation but our requests were denied.
Professor Saíz’ report reiterated the Department’s commitment, in its teaching its research, and its community outreach, to
. . . continue to bring together multiple languages and cultures and to emphasize the importance of language learning and critical thinking in the discipline. . . . A large part of our mission will continue to be devoted to work which will assist in the production of an informed comparative global scholarship in literature and culture.
There was no response to our report other than the public statements made to the press (see above).
Because of the deafening silence, Professor Saíz sent an email to Dean Sandefur, at the request of the Comparative Literature faculty, asking for clarification:
>>> Prospero Saíz 2/18/2007 5:11 PM >>>
Dear Gary,
At our executive committee meeting on 14 February, 2007, my colleagues instructed me: (1) to ask you for a written response as to the disposition of my Progress Report, which was taken up by the APC on 24 January, 2007; (2) to request that you send to us all of the APC Meeting Minutes and documents that mention the Department of Comparative Literature; and (3) that you either confirm or clarify your statements as reported in The Daily Cardinal, "Comparative Lit. Dept.'s Future Reads Unclear," written by Lara Sokolowski on Thursday, 25 January, 2007. Thanks for your attention.
Sincerely,
Próspero
On February 20, 2007, Dean Sandefur responded.
>>> Gary Sandefur 02/20/2007 3:18 PM >>>
Dear Prospero:
Below are my responses to your queries:
1) I presented your report to the APC and they were pleased to hear that you were working on involving other courses and scholars in the Comparative Literature degree programs.
2) Are you referring to APC documents for this academic year? If so, that is fairly straightforward to do. I am copying Elaine so that she can send them to you, or provide you with information on where they can be found on-line.
3) I do not have a copy of the article that appeared in the Daily Cardinal. My position remains unchanged: L&S will not authorize any hiring in the Department of Comparative Literature in the foreseeable future. I hope to always have undergraduate and Ph.D. programs and degrees in Comparative Literature.
Sincerely,
Gary
Dean, College of Letters and Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
105 South Hall
1055 Bascom Mall
Madison, WI 53706-1394
608-263-2303
Fax: 608-265-3564
There has been very little movement on the administration’s part since this exchange.
Yet in spite of this impoverished dialogue and the duress for our faculty and students which it creates, our students have stood steadfast and are making remarkable progress in their educational careers. Five undergraduate majors in Comparative Literature earned their B.A.s and graduated this May, three of them with honors. Seven graduate students earned their M.A.s and one her Ph.D. Another dissertator was awarded a University Dissertation Fellowship. We are proud of them all.
Six students from across campus are enrolled in CL 379 on the culture and politics of social justice in Cyprus and are preparing to depart for Cyprus in the next week or so. Our classes for the fall are full to overflowing with students eager to study Comparative Literature.
And, happily, our two junior faculty members – Chris Livanos and Max Statkiewicz – were promoted to the status of Associate Professor with tenure this spring.
Two new on-campus faculty have agreed to join the Department as Affiliates. They are Professors Jill Casid of Art History and Moneera Al-Ghadeer of African Languages & Literatures. We look forward to their contributions to teaching and in the Department and to their presence on our Executive Committee.
Far less happily however, Professor Saíz has had to retire. He will continue to work with students as long as he can. But he is no longer able to sustain full-time participation in the Department. His letter announcing his retirement to the CL students is a wise and eloquent comment on where we are now.
As I exit, I believe the Department is poised to move on and is in a good position to do so. Conditions are hardly ideal but with due diligence and thoughtful hard work the Department may grow and flourish. . . . the Department has survived the many assaults made on it over the years only because there has been a committed core of faculty and students to defend it. . . . I sincerely thank all of those students who courageously attended and participated in the often difficult and contentious meetings with the APC. Your persistent stalwart presence and eloquence during those meetings helped to sustain me and the faculty in our efforts.
You students are the true future of the discipline, which, I think, is a noble one.
Dean Sandefur’s refusals notwithstanding, we will ask the College to retain Professor Saíz’ line in the Department and to use his salary line to hire two junior faculty members.
Given the Herculean tasks ahead of us, we are planning to inaugurate an Advisory Board in the Department of Comparative Literature to serve as a support and strategy group. That Board will be composed of three on-campus faculty, three current students, three alumni, and three members of the broader Madison or Wisconsin community. Watch our website for details.
And finally, a suggestion from one of our wise and savvy supporters: should you express your concern about this sorry undermining of “informed comparative global scholarship” to the Chancellor's or the Deans Office (all relevant emails and street addresses are available on our website), a copy of your letter should also go to the University of Wisconsin Foundation – whether or not you are working with the Foundation.
. . . any Alumni that are either currently working with the U.W. Foundation or MAY work with them in the future when they get older should be contacting them and letting them know how they feel about the U.W. attempting to fade out the CL department.
Their contact information is:
University of Wisconsin Foundation
1848 University Ave.
P.O. Box 8860
Madison, Wisconsin 53708
phone: 608-263-4545
e-mail:
web site: http://www.uwfoundation.wisc.edu/
If any CL alumni are from the NY region: i.e.. NY, NJ, CT, the regional representative is Vinnie Suarez, U.W. Foundation, address above, email:
Phone: 608-262-7210.
Again and always, our appreciation to you for your support. We’re honored to have such a wonderful group of alumni. We’re always happy to hear of what you’re doing these days and years and of your thoughts, concerns, and epiphanies. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re in the Madison area We’d love to meet and talk with you over coffee or tea. (In addition to the education we offer to and with our students, we’re a little famous for the quality of both coffee and tea on the 9th floor of Van Hise Hall!)
Our best wishes to you for a wonderful summer, wherever it might take you.
Mary N. Layoun, Professor,
Director of Graduate Studies
Co-Chair
Saíz, Professor Próspero, Retired
Outgoing Chair
Max Statkiewicz, Associate Professor
Chair-Elect