Maybe this has been discussed on the forum, but I'm failing to find the thread.

Is it just me or has Mac slashed the number of philosophy and poli sci courses by half? I haven't had the time to peruse the entirety of the course calendar, but I suspect that other subjects (aside from biomed related, engineering, and business) and especially the Humanities have had a similar cutback?

Also last (school) year there were some rumours going around about Mac reducing the number of profs in the Philosophy and Religious Studies departments and scraping the graduate philosophy program altogether?

Can anyone confirm?

Thoughts?

A bit of discussion on the topic was here
http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=1795 8

They did the same with English. It's really irritating.

Thanks for the thread link Chad.

I've heard that the new Liberal Arts building will go up where Wentworth house is now. Seeing as how it hasn't really been started to be torn down, it seems like it'll be a wait before that comes online (I guess they're going to finish that new engineering building first...)

Maybe it's just me, but I thought that regardless of specialization, universities were founded on the liberal arts and the goal to educate people (or founded as religious institutions...lol look at Mac's motto). Taking a giant butcher's knife and shanking the philosophy (and English, poli sci, etc.) department seems a little disconcerting.

Does anyone have a link or a copy of that Sil article mentioned in the other thread? Who exactly deals with policy regarding the sessional profs and related matters - the Senate?

A perhaps more relevant question is if the student body actually cares or not...lol?

Haha. The Sil Article....no.

The Sil's website hasn't been updated in a looooong time...

Originally Posted by zeChinaman

Who exactly deals with policy regarding the sessional profs and related matters - the Senate?

A perhaps more relevant question is if the student body actually cares or not...lol?

zeChinaman,
Personally, I care. And I know there are a lot of others who do but there's only so much we can do. What a lot of students see is blatant favourtism between faculties and it is true to a point. However, what students don't realize is that the buildings that we have on campus, like the new engineering building, were built largely through donations and sponsors. Those sponsors tend to be big shots in either the Engineering or Science industries.

Now there are rumors, and I stress the word rumors, that the new Liberal Arts building is actually going to be used for psychology (brain wave testing, how peoples brains react to music etc) but that cannot be confirmed yet... unless Chad knows something the rest of us don't cause he usually does. If it were true though, that wouldn't surprise me because again... sponsors and donators. They want to see thier money put into a building where their field of study is going to be taught.

As for sessional profs, well they have their own CUPE union which is supposed to defend their rights, and they're trying at this point. They just had a vote not too long ago although I haven't heard the outcome yet. As for who deals with it, I believe it's partially the senate and one of those random branches of administration.

Originally Posted by zeChinaman

Maybe this has been discussed on the forum, but I'm failing to find the thread.

Is it just me or has Mac slashed the number of philosophy and poli sci courses by half? I haven't had the time to peruse the entirety of the course calendar, but I suspect that other subjects (aside from biomed related, engineering, and business) and especially the Humanities have had a similar cutback?

Also last (school) year there were some rumours going around about Mac reducing the number of profs in the Philosophy and Religious Studies departments and scraping the graduate philosophy program altogether?

Can anyone confirm?

Thoughts?

OH! I noticed. All of the courses I'm taking are Philosophy (it's my major) and poli sci and religious studies. I ended up nixing the poli sci courses because the ones I was sooo excited to take got cancelled. The religious studies course about god and reason got cancelled and I was devastated! And philosophy was even worse!! Feminism isn't being offered this year and neither is Advanced Bioethics (and I 12ed the pre-req so I was so excited about taking it!) I'm gonna e-mail the head of the dept and ask them what's up.

AH, me too.
Roman Religion, Roman Slavery, Topics in Ancient Greece, I was STOKED. Okay I was a little wary of the Ovid but still... the majority of the classes offered for 3rd year classics are "NOT OFFERED"

I e-mailed the department and they said they were understaffed.

Originally Posted by kokosas

As for sessional profs, well they have their own CUPE union which is supposed to defend their rights, and they're trying at this point. They just had a vote not too long ago although I haven't heard the outcome yet. As for who deals with it, I believe it's partially the senate and one of those random branches of administration.

The sessional profs recently had a protest infront of MUSC (the student centre) and also just recently had a VOTE towards striking or not.

The result isn't up yet, but my guess is... they are going to strike. The university hasn't negotiated with them very well, according to their posters.

Sessional profs are some of the best profs I've had. They care about what they teach and are really passionate about the field of study. Usually younger, and more practical than theoretical (in my experience)

READ MORE: http://www.cupe3906.org/index.php?op...146&Itemid=234

That's true.
However, if the strike occurs it'll happen in September.
However, I find sessional profs to hate what they teach- they complain a lot.

Originally Posted by Chad

Sessional profs are some of the best profs I've had. They care about what they teach and are really passionate about the field of study. Usually younger, and more practical than theoretical (in my experience)

I totally agree. One of my best profs was a sessional. They canceled his course this year and didn't give him anything else so he's out of a job here. It really sucks because he's the best english prof I've ever had.

regarding the strike, it applies to sessional lecturers and music instructors, and if an agreement has not been reached by this sunday, then they can legally strike at midnight june 15, not in september. bad date considering term 1 summer exams and the beginning of term 2 classes the week after. they update the cupe page that chad linked earlier with the info pretty regularly.

This might also explain why they didn't put any sessionals on the courses for this year...

perhaps there is an unofficial "you strike, you don't get re-hired" thing going on.

I highly highly highly doubt that there'll be a strike. Having a strike during the summer doesn't really make an impact to the University but you screw a lot of students over.