Official Petition Promoted By The C.U. Portuguese Speakers Society Against the Closure of Portuguese course at Cambridge University

To:  University of Cambridge

At present, papers on Portuguese Language, Linguistics, Literature, History and Culture of Portugal, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa, covering periods from the 16th century to the present day are taught as a full Tripos language in the University of Cambridge. The Portuguese government grants 30 000 euros (about £ 20 000) to the University of Cambridge for their teaching of Portuguese, via the Instituto Camões which sponsors Portuguese language and their teaching worldwide.

Portuguese in Cambridge is a thriving and growing subject. It is vigorous in terms of research and publications and has been growing exponentially in student applications. Past postgraduates all now hold academic posts either in Russell Group universities or in major universities in the USA. Portuguese has been twice singled out for praise by University Reviews of the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, and it is officially regarded by the Faculty and by the University as one of its success stories.

The Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages has now endorsed the proposal to suspend Portuguese as a full Tripos language on financial grounds. This proposal was initiated not by the University but by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, under no pressure and at no suggestion from either the University or the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, and with total disagreement from the University Teaching Officer in Portuguese. If this proposal goes ahead, no student, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, will emerge from a degree in Cambridge with more than a reading knowledge of Portuguese. A postgraduate degree attempted by anyone with reading but no written or oral command of the language, would almost certainly be doomed to failure. This would also entirely discredit scholarship in that subject as well as the institution that purported to grant it.

If the University lacks the funding it has not been because of lack of payment by the Instituto Camões, and therefore it can be hardly understandable. This situation is a shame and it brings the University into disrepute. Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language in the world (about 232 000 000 native speakers), and a language of the European Union. It's the language of one of the world's largest and growing economy (Brazil). Portuguese as a language has an irrefutable role in World's History and Literature.

If you wish to object and express your views on the proposed closure of Portuguese at Cambridge, please sign this petition.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Official Petition Promoted By The C.U. Portuguese Speakers Society Against the Closure of Portuguese course at Cambridge University Petition to University of Cambridge was created by and written by André Almeida, Cambridge University Portuguese Speakers Society (heiligetod@netcabo.pt).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.