Walked past the tent city outside of the VCA today, and couldn't help thinking about what alternatives the VCA has to maintain the integrity of it's school. Is it wishful thinking to believe with enough community pressure, Melbourne Uni will change it's mind and stop the merger of VCA and the faculty of music? (Especially given the university has lost millions in last year's financial meltdown). To the optimists, and to those that value the arts, I say no. There most definetly should be a fight.
However, given i'm a pragmatist, I have a tendancy to not place too much hope that the greater "good" will prevail, doubly so when there is large amounts of money involved. So what are the options? I think having two "silo" faculties divy up the funding is out of the question. If a merger is forced, the stakeholders need to look beyond the usual zero sum game, and look for innovative ways forward.
Is there a way to combine the strengths of the two faculties, and develop new courses utilizing both? Whilst, at the same time maintaining the "cores" of the respective faculties? Some may argue that these faculties are too specialized, and it's simply not possible. But I say, it's up to us, to define the undefined. Isn't that what arts/music is about?
