Från: Johanna Drucker <drucker@gseis.ucla.edu>
Datum: 29 september 2015 06:42:47 GMT+8
Till: <lena.gustafsson@umu.se>, <rektor@adm.umu.se>
Ämne: International community of scholars concerned about Patrik Svensson
Rector’s Office
Umeå University
27 September 2015
Dear Rector Gustafsson
I write to you with a sense of urgency with regard to events unfolding in the treatment of Patrik Svensson. I am hoping this letter finds you already disposed to intervene in a process that appears to be one of action without foundation in which Patrik is being subject to disciplinary action on the basis of anonymous information and without a chance to address his accusers or their accusations. In recent conversations (I saw him in New York a week ago) he informed me that no formal charges have been brought against him. He has had no formal means of clearing his name or dispelling the rumors that have been circulated about him. Whatever the final evidence turns out to be, or ruling in any official process, Patrik is certainly due fair and open treatment and opportunity to defend himself against accusations that well may turn out to be untrue or unfair.
I strongly believe in the tenets of academic freedom and also just procedures. To reassign an individual from his posts, strip him of responsibilities, remove projects from his direct supervision, cancel assignments or take any other measures that can be construed as punitive without a full, fair, open case being made and the chance to refute charges is a violation of due process in any circumstance. But in an institution of higher education, it goes against all the beliefs and values that undergird our credibility. I believe that if such actions are taken within the next weeks, as now seems likely, this will damage the University of Umeå’s reputation as well as causing considerable professional and personal distress to Patrik Svensson.
Umeå University is internationally renown for many of its many programs and research activities. Among these is HUMlab. The credit for this goes to Patrik Svensson, for the development of the Lab and for the creation of the international profile for its multi-facted activities. This is a serious and substantial accomplishment for a scholar at a still relatively early-to-mid career stage. Patrik has sponsored innumerable events, mentored dozens of young scholars, supported networking opportunities for conversations across communities and generations, fostered public debates that link practitioners, artists, dancers and academics of all stripes, and he has done this with dedication and integrity. Patrik has become identified with HUMlab in the international community, and even during his recent, planned and self-chosen, transition out of the position as its director, has maintained a highly visible sponsorship of the Lab. His continued presence on the international scene is not only a credit to the University, but it has built a very solid foundation for future support for the Lab. His credibility with funding agencies is reinforced by the respect with which he is viewed by the international community in Digital Humanities. If he is forced to break ties with HUMlab and give up the projects with which he is involved, the damage will accrue to HUMlab and the University in the form of loss of funds and compromised credibility.
I am writing this letter after considerable reflection and deliberation and with a full understanding of the complexity of internal affairs in a university environment. I have been a full-time, ladder-rank, faculty for thirty years, and have taught in seven research institutions, including elite private universities (Columbia, Yale, and Harvard) and elite public ones (University of Texas, Dallas, SUNY Purchase, the University of Virginia, and now UCLA). It is therefore with the utmost respect for the delicacy of personnel matters at all levels and the need to respect the judgment of persons in positions of institutional authority that I venture to address you on the matter of Patrik Svensson’s current status at Umeå University, and in particular, his role in the HUMlab.
I met Patrik in 2008 when I at Stanford’s Humanities Center as the Digital Humanities Fellow. Patrik’s connections with the Digital Humanities community there, as well as at UC Irvine, brought him frequently to California. In the last seven years, I have had multiple occasions to engage him as a colleague and peer, and to see him in action in Umeå, where I have been invited twice to speak in person, and once to participate in a conference by Skype. I have had various productive and engaging conversations with Patrik about topics related to Digital Humanities, and also, to his areas of special interest, the creation and running of experimental spaces for Digital Humanities’ work. In that capacity, we invited him here to UCLA to speak with us and to discuss physical infrastructure as an integral part of the research environment.
In the course of getting to know him as a colleague, I have been extremely impressed with his ability to be effective in an institutional setting. He took HUMlab from its original size as a small 1-2 person operation to a thriving 25-plus person lab in 2014. To do this required creating spaces for work and also securing funding. Patrik has proved brilliant at both. The spaces in the original HUMlab are so stunningly designed that we have attempted to copy a few of their features in renovating our Information Studies Lab here at UCLA. Patrik’s sense of design for optimal functionality is grounded in deeply humanistic instinct about how individuals and groups need to occupy space. Securing the second space, HUMlabX, in the Arts Campus, has been an equally brilliant move, and watching the design (by which I mean functional program, behavioral use, and human occupancy) develop for that space has convinced me, yet again, of his abilities as a socially conscious administrator and developer. These spaces are the envy of every researcher who visits them, but essential as they are, they are the least of Patrik’s accomplishments.
Patrik’s intellectual acuity and engagement with Digital Humanities has made him a highly visible member of the international community involved in this rapidly emerging field. The programmatic initiatives he has put together at HUMlab, combined with his publishing activity, public appearances, and ability to be on the scene and on a circuit while managing the Lab have combined to make him one of the most respected and appreciated members of this professional community. Within this broad network, often contentious and fractious, I have never heard anyone utter a critical word about Patrik—either about his work or his personal character. Quite the contrary, his presence confers authority without arrogance and encourages participation and openness. He is extremely generous to younger scholars and has repeatedly made deliberate efforts to bring early stage career scholars into the Umeå circle.
His accomplishments at HUMlab would not be possible without considerable effort and success in fundraising. And in this regard, he has become an incredibly valuable asset. His connections with funding agencies have increased his credibility as well as his professional worth, but also, have made him an integral part of the fabric of HUMlab. Considerable and sequential grants from the prestigious Wallenberg Foundation, the European Framework Programme, the Baltic Group, the Kempe Foundation and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond have brought the equivalent of more than $8 million in US dollars to HUMlab. This is an astounding achievement, but also, shows how committed he has been to building the Lab. In many ways, though he has published substantially on the topics of infrastructure and institutional developments in Digital Humanities, he has put his own work on a very distant back burner in order to do the institutional work of building infrastructure for the Lab. The result, as I said in my opening gambit, is that Umeå is internationally renowned for HUMlab.
I could go on listing the many ways in which Patrik’s contributions have been essential for building HUMlab, establishing it as a center of creative and experimental work in Digital Humanities, and otherwise distinguishing himself and the University. But this letter is not part of a review of Patrik’s academic performance. It is prompted by the distressing news that he is at risk of losing his position at the HUMlab and being assigned to report to an administrative official, a Dean, who seems to have passed judgment on him without a formal process. I recognize that many aspects of professional life factor into assessments within internal processes. But to repeat what I said above, my understanding is that no formal complaints or charges have been brought or proved. I have seen such destructive and irresponsible actions destroy careers. I have also seen justified complaints and charges in circumstances where they were, unfortunately, warranted. But it is essential to distinguish between uncomfortable circumstances and illegal and unethical ones. I am not privy to the details of the University’s discussions about this matter, but I do want to be certain that the administration be aware of the support that exists for Patrik in the international community and the degree of visibility that this case has generated.Dagens fundering: Om nu fallet PS inte har hanterats enligt reglementet, varför lade då DO ner ärendet när de utsatta riktade kritik mot Universitetets hantering. Det är väl inte kvantfysik det handlar om?
I urge you not to act in haste, or give in to pressures of individuals or groups whose own self-interests may be motivating their actions in ways that are not in the best interests of the University in its larger identity and profile. You have a highly valuable and very respected professional colleague in Patrik Svensson. I hope you can allow him to pursue his work at HUMlab, clear the air and put any accusations or charges to rest, and continue to work effectively within the University.
I have asked a number of my distinguished colleagues to add their names and signatures to this document. We are, under no circumstances, trying to meddle in internal affairs or embarrass anyone at Umeå. But there are times in professional life when it is essential to demonstrate support for an embattled colleague. This is one of those times.
If I can be of any further assistance in this matter, please do not hesitate to call on me.
Sincerely,
Johanna Drucker
Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies
drucker@gseis.ucla.edu
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