It is absolutely appalling that the Chair of Paleography has been targetted for redundancy at King's, and also absolutely true that it is a vital skill for historians of medieval music. However, this chair is not part of the Music Department (it's in Classics), nor does the Music Department currently teach specific medieval music courses. Just a point of correction -- and it's an important one -- cuts have NOT been specified for Music at KCL, except insofar that every academic staff member in the entire School of Arts and Humanities individually has to go through the formality of justifying their existence. This issue has become confused because the Professor of Paleography, whose job has indeed been (unjustifiably IMHO) earmarked for redundancy, is married to a Professor in the Music Faculty at the University of Cambridge.

Cometh the hour, cometh the facebook campaign group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=photos&ref=nf&gid=303202385890#!/group.php?gid=303202385890&ref=nf

Bad times indeed to be in the academic profession--but how do we justify funding such niche areas of expertise when our Universities are under such financial stress? Private Philanthropy, perhaps? At least then the argument would simply be--how can we convince people outside the musicological profession (i.e. rich people) that what they do is inherently worth supporting? If we can't, then perhaps this fate is inevitable, and what we are witnessing is not so much an act of cultural barbarism, as an historical shift in educational priorities.