Many students breathed a sigh of relief when the plans of the rectorate of the University of Halle-Wittenberg to close all small subjects were rejected by the Senate last week. The subject of debate was the closure and amalgamation of courses of study such as archeology, Latin and Greek studies, Indology and Japanese studies, as well as sports science and agricultural and environmental technology, which the rectorate justified with reference to urgently needed cost-cutting measures. But even though the plans for cuts could be averted for the time being by the university's senate, it is still unclear what the ultimate fate of individual subjects at the University of Halle will be, because no alternative solution has yet been found.
The heated discussion that took place in Halle caused a stir at universities all over Germany. This is a clear sign that the situation in Halle is not an isolated case - departments at other universities are also repeatedly affected by the threat of closure of individual courses or even entire institutes. People tend to forget what consequences these closings can have for students and the diversity and freedom of science. The idea that a university can be run like a company and based on the principles of utility and efficiency is misleading and dangerous.
When universities have to save and the question is where these savings could be achieved, the so-called "small subjects", which are primarily located in the humanities and cultural sciences, are the first to be looked at - because the number of students and chairs, which a degree program can provide is often associated with its general significance.
The “Small Subjects Workplace” at the University of Mainz currently has 159 small subjects.
This includes all subjects that do not have more than three chairs.
It takes the specialization of individual subjects
Small subjects are often called “orchid subjects” in colloquial language - and completely wrongly.
Because the name suggests a point of view according to which these subjects, like orchids, are exotic and deal with interesting niche topics, but also require a lot of care.
In contrast, however, they hardly produce any yield because they are primarily not useful plants, but ornamental plants.
The cost-benefit calculation simply doesn't work out in these subjects.
But a subject is not a flower.
A subject is a place where people with curiosity and the spirit of research come together, develop new and old ideas, show connections, learn the basics and methods and acquire special specialist knowledge.
And yes, you need money for that - but you also need to specialize in individual subjects.
At a time when China and Japan are the second and third largest economies in the world and are conquering the world market bit by bit, it is foolish to close subjects from the field of Asian studies.
Then where should we students learn languages like Japanese and Chinese?
How should we familiarize ourselves with the culture and history of the Asian region, which is so huge, fascinating and diverse and is getting closer and closer because our world is getting smaller and smaller due to digitization?
Who then provides the translators and interpreters and all the employees who overcome language barriers at universities and in companies and who effortlessly maintain international contacts?
If the universities fail here, there will be a gap that cannot easily be filled again.
Inconspicuous giants
The same applies to the savings in the area of classical studies. If we want to understand the origins of everyday things like our language and philosophy or even our street system, we need knowledge of Latin and ancient Greek. But if more and more chairs are orphaned and courses are closed, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to learn the old languages. This means that we run the risk of tightening the external boundaries of the course.