The Archaeology Department at the University of Sheffield was recently placed under review. Three options are on the table; these will be voted on by members of the University Executive Board this Tuesday. The options are as follows:
1. To investment in the Department with new posts and the development of new programmes.
2. To close the Department
3. To retain Archaeology as a discipline but not as a department - key programmes will be retained but re-aligned to other Departments in the University along with associated staff - we are told these would probably be two of our current masters programmes only.
Options 2 & 3 will effectively mean the end of Archaeology at Sheffield after the last cohort has graduated, after a continuous and successful history of over 50 years. The Department ranks 39th in the world for Archaeology; the university overall ranks lower than this. This is not a failing department; it is a department that has been failed by the University. The news has been greeted with a national, and international outcry. Individuals and archaeological organisations are united in their dismay, and in their support for option 1.
Please sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/university-of-sheffield-save-sheffield-s-archaeology-department
You can also email the VC, Professor Koen Lamberts to offer your support to the Department. His email is vc@sheffield.ac.uk and please cc archaeology@sheffield.ac.uk.
