Já que estamos nesta onda..

As informed in our last weekly bulletin, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at theAs informed in our last weekly bulletin, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Cambridge has proposed the closure of Portuguese in the Tripos of Modern and Medieval Languages, and this proposal has been approved by the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages.You can protest against this decision by: 1-) Signing an online petition on http://www.petitiononline.com/acportCU/petition.html 2-) Joining the facebook groups http://cambridge.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2230772080 and http://cambridge.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2232343980. 3-) Writing to the Vice-Chancellor, expressing your views on the proposed closure of Portuguese at Cambridge: Prof. Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge, The Old Schools, Cambridge CB2 1TT E-mail:v-c@admin.cam.ac.ukYou may use the following text:Esteemed Prof. RichardI am writing in much dismay and in protest about the news of the closure of the Portuguese tripos within the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Cambridge.As you know Portuguese in Cambridge is a thriving and growing subject. It is vigorous in terms of research and publications and its undergraduate student numbers have grown exponentially by 500-600% in the last ten years.Prior to the arrival of the current Lecturer (Reader) in Portuguese there had never been a postgraduate (Ph.D.) student in Portuguese in Cambridge.At present, one third of the Ph.D. students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese are working in a Portuguese area. Past postgraduates all now hold academic posts either in Russell Group universities or in major universities in the USA. Not only is it the fifth most spoken language in the world, it is a language spoken by many students and lecturers that study and teach at Cambridge.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. It has thrived under conditions of chronic understaffing, difficulties regarding severe illness of staff and overwork. It is growing in student applications and it is fully research active. Furthermore, I am informed that the Portuguese tripos receives funding from Instituto Camões, a portuguese foundation that is dedicate to promote the Portuguese language around the world. It is hard to comprehend how the tripos is closing due to funding issues when having this informationThis proposal was initiated not by the University but by the Head and Deputy head of 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. I find it very hard to believe that there are any reasons why this course should be ended after the points exposed above.I hope you can please reconsider this decision and maintain the Portuguese tripos as it will, with no doubt, become even more vigorous than it is already.CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PORTUGUESE SPEAKERS SOCIETYVisit our web-page at http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cuport/Send queries or requests to , and this proposal has been approved by the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages.