{"id":146741,"date":"2026-07-22T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=146741"},"modified":"2026-07-22T18:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T22:22:22","slug":"church-times-cuts-to-theology-at-exeter-university-cause-alarm-among-academics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=146741","title":{"rendered":"(Church Times) Cuts to theology at Exeter University cause alarm among academics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Proposals to cut the Theology and Religious Studies<\/a> (TRS) department at Exeter University<\/a> by more than one quarter in a matter of months would have \u201cirreversible consequences\u201d, a letter from theologians and others has warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter has been signed by more than 600 people, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams; the Bishops of Newcastle and Winchester; and academics including Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vice-Chancellor of Exeter, Professor Lisa Roberts, announced the proposals to staff last month. Of the proposed 153 full-time-equivalent academic redundancies, 114 fall within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. The TRS department could lose up to five members of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe University is not removing poorly performing units but dismantling areas of established excellence and international renown,\u201d the letter warns. The department was ranked first nationally for world-leading research in the Research Excellence Framework, in 2021. Among the staff raising the alarm is the Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, whose public scholarship includes a recent documentary for the BBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

"The University is not removing poorly performing units but dismantling areas of established excellence and international renown." I had a look to potential cuts to Theology & Religion at Exeter – part of a wider trend across the country https:\/\/t.co\/rN152K8qwm<\/a><\/p>— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) July 22, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>