As you might have heard, UCU has asked for an international boycott of Goldsmiths
The global boycott means the union is asking its members, other trade unions, labour movement organisations and the international academic community to support its members at Goldsmiths in any way possible, including by:
- refusing to speak at or organise academic or other conferences and events (with Goldsmiths or involving Goldsmiths) which do not directly contribute to core teaching duties on accredited programmes
- refusing to participate in new non-research based partnership enterprises with Goldsmiths
- refusing to write for any academic journal which is edited at or produced by Goldsmiths
- refusing to accept new contracts as external examiners for taught courses
- relocating events due to take place at Goldsmiths to other venues.
UCU is also urging all external speakers invited to participate in events at Goldsmiths to refuse to collaborate with the institution in solidarity with staff fighting to save jobs and defend the future of the university.
It is important to underline that this boycott is not designed to affect our core teaching provision and this is particularly important for students to be aware of. We are not expecting you to engage in the boycott if your work with Goldsmiths is embedded within the core content of a course. Many of our courses are designed to accommodate regular guest lecturers and practitioners and we do not wish them to be affected by this boycott. You can ask the person who extended the invitation to clarify this for you or write to us at gucu-admin@gold.ac.uk
Both Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art and the Student Union are exempt from this boycott, we encourage you to continue to patronise them and enjoy their events.