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The earthquake in New Zealand

Brian Leiter

Given the catastrophe in Christchurch, home to several institutions of higher education, including the University of Canterbury, I wonder if any readers in New Zealand or elsewhere have heard from philosophers there and how the universities (their staff and student populations) have fared during this crisis?  Feel free to pass on any other information that might be of use to those affected.

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3 responses to “The earthquake in New Zealand”

  1. Joe

    I'm an ex-student of the Philosophy department at Canterbury. I've been in touch with some of the graduate community, and everyone that I've spoken to is okay. My fingers are crossed for the rest of the students and the staff.

    Reply
  2. James

    I have just heard from Dr Philip Catton of the University of Canterbury philosophy department that there were no deaths or serious injuries on campus (no mention of any philosophers not on campus). However the university is closed until further notice.

    Reply
  3. Charles Pigden

    Just to reassure friends of New Zealand Philosophy. There are only two philosophy departments in the Christchurch area, Canterbury and Lincoln, (the last being very small). If, as the reports from PhilL Catton indicate,the students and staff there are OK, there is no need to worry about the rest of us as all the other New Zealand universities -Otago, Victoria at Wellington, Massey, Waikato and Auckland – are at a considerable distance from Christchurch and have been largely unaffected. Down here in Dunedin (home of the University of Otago) the quake was barely perceptible and I for one totally failed to perceive it. Of course although geographically speaking, New Zealand is a medium sized country it has a small population which means that many non-Christchurch people have family or friends in the affected area. Current news reports indicate that there may be between one hundred and three hundred fatalities. That's pretty bad. But it is not very likely that any of your New Zealand friends and acquaintances will be among the dead or injured.

    As with the earlier earthquake, our state agencies and emergency services are dealing efficiently (and in some cases courageously) with the crisis. The response makes me proud of my adopted country.

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