University of Huddersfield announce 37 redundancies in arts and humanities departments

Financial pressures and declining applications are thought to be behind the decision, which the academic community has nicknamed 'bonfire of the humanities' due to similar restructuring at other universities.

Cultural studies lecturer Dr Benjamin Litherland tweeted: "It looks like 37 jobs (32.3FTE) are being cut across arts and humanities at Huddersfield. Media safe, so I'm not personally impacted, but gutted for mates and colleagues who do valuable research and teaching across the uni and so much for the community.

"It really does look like disciplines like history and English will cease to exist outside of Oxbridge and a handful of Russell Group universities in less than five years. Fees and lifting of the cap has absolutely gutted unis and unis like ours.

Among the subjects affected is linguistics, with department representatives tweeting: "Thirty-seven redundancies announced. In linguistics two permanent colleagues personally targeted for redundancy; all others at risk. We would appreciate your support in fighting this."

Also impacted is the history department, recently ranked 13th in the UK by The Guardian. Staff posted: "Thanks to everyone for their messages of support, following the recent announcement. History at Huddersfield will still be here in September but we're still processing the implications of the news and what it means for us, and our friends and colleagues in the department."

It is believed that the university management plans to merge five departments into three.

A spokesperson for the University of Huddersfield said: "The School of Arts and Humanities is reshaping to align itself to meet current and future areas of student demand. The university continues to invest in areas of growth and manage its resources effectively."