On Wednesday, 10 November 2004, the Faculty of
Philosophy at the University of Cologne decided that the
Cologne Institute of Indology and Tamil Studies will be
closed down when the current director, Prof.Dr. D.B.
Kapp, retires in February 2006. The director was informed
not earlier than the night before by the dean and vice-
dean about the imminent closure. Neither members of the
institute nor students had been given the opportunity to
present their position prior to the decision. In other
words, all people concerned have been totally
overrun.
The decision was reached against the background of
cuts announced by the Ministry of Science and Research of
North Rhine Westphalia, according to which the University
of Cologne will have to reduce its number of faculty by
24 until the year 2008. 6 of these positions will have to
be taken from the Faculty of Philosophy. By closing down
the chair of Indology and Tamil Studies in Cologne one
single position would be reduced. The consequences,
however, would be the closure of an entire institution
and the demise of the discipline `Tamil Studies' in
Germany. If only from an economic point of view, it seems
entirely unjustified to close down a public institution
which functions with a minimum of costs, but which has a
major impact on contemporary German society:
- IITS Cologne offers unique opportunities for
academic studies in Germany: With its clear focus on
South India in both teaching and research, the IITS in
Cologne occupies a unique position among the centres of
South Asian Studies in Germany.
Our activities address a geographical and cultural
space which has for a long time been overlooked. As the
name of the institute suggests, we particularly
specialise in research and teaching of Tamil language
and culture. In Germany, Tamil culture has gained
special momentum due to the immigration of Sri Lankan
Tamils during the 1980s. Tamil is the most important
member of the so-called Dravidian family of languages
with over 70 million speakers in the South Indian state
of Tamil Nadu, and with further speakers in Sri Lanka,
Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore, as well as Canada, USA,
Great Britain, France and Switzerland.
With its broad spectrum of currently 9 South Asian
languages, the IITS offers important opportunities for
students to specialise and to enhance their knowledge.
We teach the well-known, trans-regional languages Hindi
(spoken by more than 480 million speakers), Bengali
(200 million) and Tamil, as well as Telugu, Malayalam,
Gujarati, Marathi and Sinhalese. For their own,
individualised profile, students at the University of
Cologne often combine the subject 'Indology/Tamil
Studies' with other subjects, e.g. Anthropology,
Musicology, Political Sciences,Sociology, Philosophy,
Linguistics, Media Studies,Art History, or English
Studies. It is because of these combinations that the
subject 'Indology/Tamil Studies'forms an integrated
part of the variety of disciplines at the University of
Cologne.
Together with the Institute of Indology in Bonn, the
IITS participates in a specific network: While the
institute in Bonn focuses on Classical Indology and
regionally on North India, the IITS concentrates on
modern South Asia and on the culturally different South
of the subcontinent.
- The IITS Cologne is a national and international
leader in research: Due to its unique position within
the landscape of the institutions of Higher Education
in Germany, the IITS forms part of a large number of
national and international research networks and
cooperations. We have research partners in Europe
(France, Sweden, Austria, UK, Czech Republic), in the
U.S. (Chicago,Berkeley, Rhode Island) and in Asia
(India, Sri Lanka, Singapore). As may be expected, we
furthermore entertain links to other institutions of
South Asian Studies in Germany.
The many research projects carried out at the IITS
have led to considerable donations and endowments:
400,000 Euros in the years 2003 and 2004 alone. Not
only the institute, but the entire university has
benefited from this.
Moreover, special mention should be made of the
Tamil section of the IITS library which was founded
during the 1950s and 60s and which has been
systematically enlarged since 1992. It currently
contains more than 60,000 volumes. It is therefore the
largest Tamil library outside India. An important part
of the collection contains books published during the
19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these volumes
are found today only in Cologne. The IITS library is a
unique instrument of research which continues to
receive considerable international acclaim. It not only
serves current research and teaching at the IITS
itself, but also frequently attracts researchers from
all over the world.
- The IITS Cologne facilitates cultural integration
of South Asians in Germany: The IITS is the only
institution in Germany which offers the subject 'Tamil
Studies'. Here, native speakers of German find the
opportunity to study an important modern South Asian
language, while on the other hand the Tamil population
in Germany finds a place to study their mother tongue.
During the past decade, the IITS has become
increasingly popular among the more than 70,000 Tamils
who have come to Germany from Sri Lanka or India. The
IITS offers support to the Tamil population in Germany
by providing dictionaries and through its library
services.
Also for other South Asian communities the IITS
provides a centre. This is reflected in the increasing
interest of students to study the South Indian language
Malayalam at the IITS, or in a project which aims at
the digitisation of one of the most prestigious Telugu
libraries in the South Indian state Andhra Pradesh.
- The political and economic importance of South
Asia: South Asia is a region with an increasing
importance in the economy and in global politics. The
IITS responds to this impact by introducing a new BA
course in Indian Economics. During the past few months,
the IITS has been developing this highly innovative
course in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics
and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne
(Department of Prof.Dr. Donges). Students will be able
to acquire far-reaching linguistic and cultural skills,
while following courses on economics and participating
in work practice periods in South Asia. This new BA
course does not only follow the proclamation by the
Ministry of Science and Research of North Rhine
Westphalia to reform and innovate Higher Education in
the region. It will also contribute to make North Rhine
Westphalia, and the University of Cologne in
particular, a more attractive region to study in.
- Further economic aspects: The minimal reduction of
costs with a single position leads to the death of an
entire institution and discipline. The number of
students in a particular subject or academic discipline
has become one of the most important criteria for
decisions concerning Higher Education policies in
Germany. As a matter of course, the IITS caters for a
smaller number of students than other subjects, such as
German or English Studies or History. Unlike in the
case of these subjects,however, the number of degrees
awarded in 'Indology/Tamil Studies' does correspond to
the actual demand on the job market. Even the Ministry
of Science and Research of North Rhine Westphalia has
recognised that with regard to the so- called 'smaller'
disciplines, student capacities and numbers of awarded
degrees are less important to the question of overall
relevance (See the "Abschlußbericht des
Expertenrats im Rahmen des Qualitätspakts für
das Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung des
Landes NRW vom 20.02.2001" at http://www.mwf.nrw.de/Ministerium/Wissenschafts_Forschungspolitik/Qualitaetspakt/Abschlussbericht/index.html
The IITS in Cologne does not only occupy a unique
position within the landscape of the institutions of
Higher Education in Germany. Beyond the academic sphere,
the IITS has an important social function due to its
contribution towards the understanding and integration of
cultural minorities in Germany. The decision taken by the
Faculty of Philosophy to abolish Tamil Studies in
Germany is overly hasty and short-sighted. Whether the
procedure itself was legal is currently being
investigated. In any case, the decision is a slap in the
face not only of the students but of the entire South
Asian population in Germany. While this year Tamil has
been declared a 'classical' language, the international
Tamil community is about to face the demise of a
prestigious cultural institution in Germany with
international links in both teaching and research. Given
the current political climate in Germany and its
concomitant educational policies, further far-reaching
cuts and the demise of other disciplines are to be
expected not only at the University of Cologne but
everywhere else. Thus, what is happening here to the IITS
in Cologne concerns not a few 'unimportant' and
underprivileged students; it concerns German society as a
whole.
