We, like many others, are greatly dismayed by the news that Prof Deirdre Osborne, co-founder of the MA Black British literature course at Goldsmiths, is facing the threat of redundancy as reported in your article (Goldsmiths ‘determined’ to close Black British literature course, critics say, 3 July).
We have been here before. Two years ago, the course itself, along with its counterpart course in Black British history at Goldsmiths, was threatened with closure. Only the protest of academics, writers and students stayed the college’s hand. With the decision to threaten the career of Prof Osborne, Goldsmiths seems intent on removing the intellectual heart of the degree and undercutting its viability. In short: it seems to be quietly reversing its decision.
