The proposed agreement would see a new major introduced into the Arts faculty, which students could choose as part of the existing Bachelor of Advanced Studies program.
The major would involve two core units: Introduction to the Western Tradition I and Introduction to the Western Tradition II, with electives chosen from the already existing pool of study options offered by faculties such as Arts and Social Sciences, Science, Architecture, Design and Planning and the Conservatorium of Music.
In a letter to Sydney University staff released on Wednesday, September 18, Spence outlined the proposed negotiation between the university and the centre, after pointing out that the university already covers “Western civilisation” across a diverse range of disciplines, including archaeology, architectural history, art history, Biblical studies, classics (including literature and languages of the ancient Mediterranean), European studies, history, the history and philosophy of science, language, literature, music, philosophy, studies in religion, and majors in languages such as Ancient Greek, Classical Hebrew, French, German, Italian, Latin and Spanish.
Sydney University had earlier refused the Ramsay Centre’s proposal to spend about $50 million over eight years on hiring academics to run courses for small groups of eight to 10 students, while providing student scholarships of up to $30,000 a year each.
Instead, Spence suggested “that the majority of funding is to be used for students in the form of scholarships, bursaries, study abroad opportunities and other related support costs,” saying that “these changes will allow us to support hundreds of students each year”.
But the proposed plan has already been met with contention from the academic community, many of whom believe that Ramsay has a vision of “Euro-supremacy” which “does not mix with the critical and historicised perspectives of contemporary education in the humanities”.
“Regardless of the number of students it funds or the details of its Western Tradition program, Ramsay is ideologically still a project of the hard right,” protest group Staff Against the Ramsay Centre said in an online statement.
Donatella Cannova, director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Buenos Aires and former director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Sydney, publicly condemned the proposed partnership between Sydney University and the Ramsay Centre last year, saying that it “should be a common concern to everyone interested in autonomy, freedom and the progress of knowledge”.
The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation is funded from the multibillion-dollar estate of the late healthcare mogul Paul Ramsay.
It has already signed deals with the University of Wollongong (UOW) and the University of Queensland (UQ), despite numerous protests, including an open letter signed by 92 staff at UOW, the first institution to sign the deal.
