Academics seeking promotion at UCL told to overhaul courses to limit the number of ‘dead white men’ – Telegraph.co.uk

Academics seeking promotion at one of the countrys leading universities have been told they should overhaul courses to limit the number of dead white men.

Researchers applying for any teaching roles at University College London (UCL) should engage with the institutions Liberating the Curriculum initiative and be prepared to "demonstrate the impact" of this.

According to an internal university guidance document, titled UCL Academic Careers Framework, this is listed as a core requirement for those applying for lecturer roles.

It says that all academic, research and teaching staff are expected to demonstrate at least some core activities when applying for a promotion.

The document explains that an "indicator of impact" could be either introducing new or making substantial revisions to old modules in response to student feedback.

UCL describes its Liberating the Curriculum initiative as a policy aimed at challenging traditional Eurocentric, male-dominated curricula and ensuring the work of marginalised scholars on race, sexuality, gender and disability are fairly represented in curricula.

The initiative also encourages academics to be the change and acknowledge the prejudices baked into a field as well as check their privilege.

It claims that many academic disciplines are deeply exclusive and unfair in their current form as they are overly represented by dead white (able-bodied European) men.

One academic told The Telegraph they are deeply troubled about this initiative. I think this whole woke avalanche is really concerning because it is like a religious fervour," he said. "Instead of looking at the evidence, it says some answers have got to be accepted and others cannot be accepted. That is poisonous - it is the wrong direction for a university to go in.

The Free Speech Union (FSU) has written to UCLs vice-chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, urging him to remove this stipulation immediately from its guidance.

Toby Young, general secretary of the FSU, said: "Insisting that anyone in a grade 8 job at UCL, or applying for one, has to remove 'dead white able-bodied European men' from reading lists, 'check their privilege' and 'acknowledge the prejudice baked into their field' is an infringement of their right to free speech and almost certainly unlawful.

The Telegraph last week revealed how Oxford dons are furious that a candidates woke score could be part of the criteria for hiring academics, under new proposals aimed at boosting staff diversity.

The universitys race equality task force has published a series of recommendations aimed at increasing the number of people it hires from ethnic minority backgrounds.

In a consultation document, the task force said it was important to embed EDI - which stands for equality, diversity and inclusion - into all recruitment.

One Oxford academic questioned whether this would mean academics need to have a minimum woke score to get a job at the university.

A UCL spokesperson said that their Academic Careers Framework document gives illustrative examples of activity undertaken by some people at a specific job grade and these are categorically not a checklist for promotion".

They added: The descriptions are not exhaustive and no individual would be expected to meet all of the criteria highlighted. They offer broad and varied indicators of different types of activity and Liberating the Curriculum is just one example of how staff can demonstrate their work on the curriculum.

Irrespective of the activity, the evidenced impact and reach of a persons work is the vital aspect for promotion and contribution will be considered in the round.

We have a long tradition of safeguarding freedom of speech and are strongly committed to upholding academic freedom of enquiry in our teaching and research."

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Academics seeking promotion at UCL told to overhaul courses to limit the number of 'dead white men' - Telegraph.co.uk