{"id":173137,"date":"2024-11-07T12:28:04","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T11:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=173137"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:34","slug":"decimation-of-utrecht-humanities-heavily-criticised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/11\/07\/decimation-of-utrecht-humanities-heavily-criticised\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Decimation’ of Utrecht humanities heavily criticised"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Leiden University, Utrecht University is now also planning to overhaul its Faculty of Humanities. Six Bachelor\u2019s programmes, including German and French, will have to close up shop in 2030. Critics say the board has demonstrated a lack of transparency.<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDUB<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

As of 2026, the Utrecht University Bachelor\u2019s programmes in German, French, Italian, Celtic, Religious Studies and Islam & Arabic will not be allowed to admit any new students. The Faculty of Humanities has a budget deficit of 7 million euros this year. If policy were to remain unchanged, that amount would rise to 13 million in 2027, according to Dean Thomas Vaessens.<\/p>\n

The financial situation of his faculty has already been unstable for years, reads a press release<\/a> of the university, \u2018because we maintain a range of programmes that have become unaffordable over time\u2019. Programmes that take in fewer than 25 students will no longer be kept afloat. The nationally unique Celtic programme only drew two students this year. For the French programme, this number was sixteen. The other four drew student numbers somewhere in between. Forced redundancies aren\u2019t ruled out.<\/p>\n

Transition plan<\/h2>

Together with the university board, the dean has written a \u2018transition plan\u2019 for a new interdisciplinary setup of undergraduate education within humanities. \u201cThis will make knowledge from these fields of study accessible to a larger group of students and keep research and expertise available to society.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan was discussed confidentially in the faculty council last Friday and shared with all students and staff on Monday. They were rather shocked, reports<\/a> news platform DUB. Religious Studies coordinator Eric Ottenheijm finds it incomprehensible that the six degree programmes themselves weren\u2019t involved in drawing up the plan. According to him, it\u2019s entirely unclear what the desired connection between the six programmes and other disciplines will look like.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t