BBK THE CHANGING FACE OF LONDON - Birkbeck, University of London
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BBK
LONDON’S EVENING UNIVERSITY
THE
CHANGING
FACE OF
LONDON
How young people
renegotiate once-familiar
neighbourhoods
CONTENTS OUR COMMUNITY MASTER’S WELCOME
“
WE HAVE
50 58
U
niversities seem to have been in the news CONTINUED
constantly over the last year. Political TO MAKE THE
BOOKS A SPORTING
“
debate about the role and value of higher CASE FOR
OUR YEAR TEACHING AND RESEARCH A selection of books
authored or edited by staff
CHANCE
Kicking off American
education, the cost of a degree and university
leadership regularly made the headlines in 2017.
PART-TIME,
FLEXIBLE
football in London’s
THE COLLEGE Throughout it all, Birkbeck has continued HIGHER
16 PROVIDED A 28 38 schools
to make the case for part-time, flexible EDUCATION
AWARDS AND
RECOGNITIONS
HAVEN FOR
MANY PEOPLE
UNDERWRITERS
ON THE STORM
HOME TRUTHS
Negotiating a changing
60
THE FUTURE'S
higher education, holding conversations with
policymakers and parliamentarians at every
Staff recognised by major
WHOSE LIVES Acts of God – who insures neighbourhood opportunity. Early in 2017, we successfully
WERE the insurers?
DIGITAL lobbied Parliament to ensure recognition for
grants and institutions
18
DISPLACED
BY WAR,
30 40
SEARCH INGENUITY
Tackling the tech
challenge
part-time study in the Higher Education and
Research Act, which became law in April. In
PERSECUTION November, our students met Sir Michael Barber,
FREEZE FRAME AND EXILE IS CARING IN Going beyond Google who takes up his new role in April 2018 as Chair
CRISIS?
4
Cryo-electron microscope
42
of the Office for Students, the universities’ new
builds on research pg6 Public reaction to regulatory body.
52
expertise humanitarian appeals The College made preparations for the
A NEW DIRECTION POPULISM:
Our first Compass
Project students 19 32 THE NEW NORMAL?
When voters find their MY LATE MOTHER’S
FUTURE WORK
introduction in 2017 of the Teaching Excellence
Framework (TEF), the new assessment of the
RACE AND THE LAW FACSIMILE OR quality of undergraduate teaching in universities,
6
voice
Research centre offers FICTION? Graduate Lucy Malone and in June we were pleased to receive a ‘Silver’
SANCTUARY AND
platform for debate Real-life portraits before
44 archives family art
62 award in the first ever TEF awards (p10). This
54
photography accolade puts us above some Russell Group
SCHOLARSHIP AN OVERLOOKED CAREERS CLINIC universities, and positions us well among other
A century of support RELATIONSHIP? Our alumni share their London higher education institutions. We are
for refugees Research into siblings READY, STUDY, GO expertise
Sporting students at the not resting on our Olympic-style laurels, however
8
and the law
THE ORIGINAL 46
top of their game
63
OBITUARIES
– a review of teaching and student satisfaction
across the College is being carried out, and we
will consider the results early in 2018.
IT-GIRL GUT REACTION Brian Buckle, Lorraine Our number of full-time students (studying
Interview with Dame Gut bacteria doing good Lim, George Wells in the evening) has meant that we were ranked
Stephanie Shirley in some 2017 university league tables for the
10 64 first time – a mixed blessing, as such tables
20
discriminate against our open access mission.
WHY I GIVE
GLITTERING PRIZES Matthew Beddall
We nevertheless welcome the greater visibility
The new Teaching that this gives to Birkbeck’s unique evening
EVENTS: ON CAMPUS
Excellence Framework AND ON POLITICS 34 65 teaching model and continuing commitment
56
Highlights from our year to our historic mission of providing top-quality
SEA CHANGE BIRKBECK IN higher education to working Londoners.
24 Heligoland’s Anglo-
German history SETTING THE
BAR HIGH
NUMBERS 2016–2017 New developments on campus during
2016–2017 include the launch of our degree
JULIAN BARNES
Our seventh Man Booker 36 48 Graduate Jolyon
Maugham speaks freely
66
THE LAST WORD
apprenticeship offering (p26). We were also
delighted to welcome the first Compass Project
event NEW PROFESSORS
AMAZON DELIVERY Lord Willetts of Havant students on campus, in this inaugural year of
26 Understanding
indigenous artefacts
Birkbeck’s initiative to offer 20 asylum seekers
a fully funded place on a College course (p4).
EARN AND LEARN Their contribution to our community forms part
The new degree of a long tradition of sanctuary and scholarship
at Birkbeck (p6).
12
apprenticeships
27
We look ahead to the coming year of further
innovation and to more conversations about the
BIRKBECK’S future of higher education and how to ensure
BOOZERS SIR HARVEY that it provides for all who can benefit from it.
How the Birkbeck Bank McGRATH
helped self-improvement The Chair of Governors
pg40 Professor David Latchman CBE, Master, Birkbeck
2 3
A NEW AGHIL MANIAVI
“I came to the UK from Iran. I was an activist,
DIRECTION working on a report about a secret prison where
the authorities were keeping and torturing
Ahwazi activists. They arrested one of my friends,
and I had to run to save my life, as I was close to
getting arrested, tortured and maybe executed.
“My first few weeks on the course have been
good, but there is a lot of pressure too, as we
Launched in November 2016, had to start work on our assignments from the
second week. I am getting used to it though,
Birkbeck’s Compass Project offers 20 and currently everything is good.
scholarships, along with a tailored “I think Birkbeck is a great choice to start your
academic level studies. The environment is highly
package of additional support, academic. What is more, most of the students
to asylum seekers and refugees in have come to study with lots of experience, and
London to enable them to take up this is what I really like. I strongly advise people
who want to return to study to choose Birkbeck.
a place on any undergraduate or “The Compass Project has changed my life.
postgraduate certificate course at the I am studying Introduction to Politics, and I
College. Our first cohort of Compass hope this Certificate of Higher Education course
will enable me to progress to undergraduate
Project students began their studies in studies, and ultimately to a PhD. I also hope the
October 2017 and here, two of them qualification I gain through this course will help
talk about what it means to be offered me to improve my skills and get a good job in
the future.
this fresh start “Entering academia has always been my
biggest dream. I had previously applied to
university in the UK, and received three out of
GLORIA TSITSI MADYIRA four offers. However, my residency status means
“I am originally from Zimbabwe. I sought I am not allowed to work, which means
asylum in the UK because I feared persecution I couldn’t afford the fees on my own. Being
in my country, leaving after I was harassed, told I was awarded the Compass scholarship
tortured and sexually abused by government was the greatest news that I have had in the
authorities in Zimbabwe. past few years.
“My first few weeks at the University were so “I wouldn’t be able to enter higher education
exciting and challenging. I have met students without this award – it’s the biggest opportunity
from different backgrounds and have learned I’ve ever had.”
new skills. The course work is going well. There
are a lot of assignments and essays but my
tutor, Heather Finlay, has been very friendly,
supportive and sincere.
“I am undertaking a Certificate of Higher
Education on the Nursing, Midwifery, Health
and Social Care pathway at Birkbeck. If I am
successful in passing my course, I hope to
pursue a career as a nurse. Studying nursing
is important to me, as it can provide me with
knowledge I can use throughout my life
regardless of my future path.
“The Compass Project is a chance to have
a brighter future and accomplish my dreams.
I would like to thank the Compass Project
for their help on behalf of all asylum seekers,
including myself.”
Birkbeck is grateful to Allen & Overy, AlixPartners’
Right: Gloria Tsitsi Madyira The Foundation, the Blanes Trust and Santander for
Far right: Aghil Maniavi (photos Geoff Wilson) their generous support for the Compass Project
4 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 5
SANCTUARY AND
SCHOLARSHIP “
BIRKBECK PROVIDED A HAVEN FOR MANY
PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES WERE DISPLACED
BY WAR, PERSECUTION AND EXILE
From the First World War onwards Birkbeck has offered a safe haven, and system of part-time evening study helped them
to pursue their studies, work and slowly rebuild
practical support, to refugees. Mike Berlin looks at a century of solidarity their lives.
Practical help for these refugees often came
from fellow students: in the late 1930s, student
T
here is an enduring tradition at Birkbeck persecution. It did not act in isolation. During clubs and societies working through the
of practical solidarity with refugees. the 1930s and 1940s, Birkbeck was linked – by Birkbeck Students’ Union helped to organise
Throughout the twentieth century and on its London location and through its activist staff basic accommodation. A similar effort was made
into the twenty-first, a vital part of the College’s and students – with a network of refugee aid after the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary, when
work has been to provide a place where people organisations. It worked with other institutions, the Students’ Union helped to refurbish and
fleeing persecution have been enabled to pick in particular the Academic Assistance Council, run a welfare centre and hostel in south London
up their lives, resume their education and engage to help refugee academics escape oppression for young adolescent Hungarians who had fled
in scholarship. and continue their research. their birthplace. Teams of students canvassed
The assistance that the College has given over Throughout this period, many, mainly donors and collected furniture, carpets, stoves
the last 100 years has taken various forms, from Jewish, refugees from Germany, Austria and and sinks, and helped to clear out and restore a
language classes and training to temporary Poland found a place at Birkbeck thanks to large derelict house at Kingston Hill, Surrey, for
Below:
shelter. From the start of the First World War in this advocacy, and their expertise enriched teenagers escaping the violent aftermath of the
Art historian
1914, Birkbeck offered places to Belgian refugees Nikolaus Pevsner the College’s reputation as a place of learning uprising. This everyday act of student solidarity
fleeing the German advance and provided free Right: immensely. drew the attention of the BBC and British Pathé
language lessons, part of an outpouring of Hungarian Much of this can be attributed to the work of News. While it is important not to exaggerate
popular pro-Belgian sentiment that attended refugees are Patrick Blackett, a physicist working at Birkbeck the impact of these gestures, they were concrete
welcomed to
the outbreak of war. in the mid-1930s, who was intimately involved in expressions of a sense of common humanity
London by
During the inter-war period and the rise of Birkbeck's the Academic Assistance Council and advocated which today’s staff and students would recognise
Fascism in Nazi Germany, the College offered Students' Union that it expand its remit to argue publicly for and share.
help to refugee scholars and students fleeing (British Pathé) the rights of refugee professors, researchers This tradition of support continues today with
and students. During Blackett’s four years at the Compass Project (see page 4), a new College
Birkbeck, he made the Physics Laboratory in initiative which this year provided 20 asylum
Malet Street, known as ‘The Magnet House’, seekers with scholarships for courses at Birkbeck.
a haven for brilliant young researchers fleeing This will help them to achieve a valuable
persecution. qualification, recognised in the UK, while also
The contribution of the new arrivals was providing a platform for further university
to be felt in virtually every department of the study. At the same time, the Compass Project
College. Most famously perhaps, the celebrated students are being offered support, including
German art historian Nikolaus Pevsner came help in getting to grips with a different academic
to Birkbeck in 1942 and helped to establish environment and student culture.
the College as a centre for the study of art and It is hoped that the Compass Project will
architecture during and after the war. Later still, build on this century-old tradition of support
the renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm, who for refugees, expand it and make it a permanent
had arrived in England aged 16 as a refugee feature of the future of the College.
from Berlin before the war, went on to become Birkbeck has an important role to play in
Emeritus Professor and President of the College supporting refugees through the Project, as
until his death in 2012. well as engaging in public debate about the
Birkbeck provided a haven, then, for many education rights of refugees, how British society
people whose lives were displaced by war, can welcome them, and how the global injustices
persecution and exile. Among the post-war that force them to flee might be overcome.
cohort of students, there were a number of
young émigré Londoners who had come to
Britain as children or teenagers via the famous Mike Berlin teaches in the Department of History,
Kindertransport, many of whom had lost their Classics and Archaeology and specialises in
families in the Nazi genocide. Birkbeck’s unique the social history of early modern London
6 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 7
THE ORIGINAL IT-GIRL “
BIRKBECK HELPED
ME TO JOIN THE
MERITOCRACY, AND
Software entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley arrived in THE STIMULATING
Britain as a child refugee in 1939, and studied at Birkbeck under computer MENTAL EFFORT OF MY
pioneer Professor Andrew Booth. Made a Companion of Honour last year, TIME HERE BECAME
MY MINDSET
Dame Stephanie reflected on her life and work as she delivered the 2017
Andrew and Kathleen Booth Lecture
You studied at Birkbeck as a postgraduate. You started your company FI in 1962 with an
Why has the College been so important to you? all-female workforce. How important was it in
The College has been instrumental to my worldly those early days to expand the opportunities
success; to my questioning, and to my quality available to women?
of life. I attended as a postgraduate in the 1950s FI was founded to circumvent the gender
and I was so pleased to be awarded an honorary issues at the time and for me to have a job
fellowship in 2002. Birkbeck helped me to join which fitted in with my plans and family.
the meritocracy and, I’m glad to say, I recruited professionally qualified women who
the stimulating mental effort of my time had – as was then the norm – left the industry
here became my mindset. on marriage or when their first child was
Like physical training for sports, minds have expected, and I structured them into a home-
to be regularly exercised to get the most from working organisation. We went for projects
them, and I’ve tried to maintain that level of such as scheduling freight trains for British Rail,
intellectual firepower – knowing that bit more, timetabling buses, and scientific stock control.
thinking more analytically, working those extra Who would have guessed the programming
hours and refusing to accept soundbites as a of the black box flight recorder for supersonic
solution to intractable and long-term problems. Concorde would have been done by a bunch of
I always aim to get the right answers for myself. women working from their homes?
I have Birkbeck to thank for that – at all times
an agent of change and at the sharp end of Where did the drive to innovate and empower
higher education. your staff come from?
George Birkbeck’s vision nearly 200 years As with many entrepreneurs, the driving force
ago was to offer the “universal benefits of the behind my creation of that company was from
blessings of knowledge” to people like me, who trauma in my life. Freedom is important to me
were only able to study part-time. Birkbeck is because I am a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust.
continuing to do just that today and is now Although only a child, the experience left me
helping today’s asylum seekers and refugees with very, very strong values. I learned not to
through the Compass Project. I’m lobbying for expect tomorrow to be anything like today and
similarly improved opportunities for people with that gave me an openness to new ways of doing
the so-called ‘hidden’ disorders, such as autism. things. My survivor guilt – the need to justify
I know Birkbeck has an ongoing focus on why I was saved when millions died, including
autism research, because I helped launch the women and children – has fuelled my sense of
Babylab, based on the concept of studying the importance of people having the freedom to
babies at risk. Long may Birkbeck continue its pursue their own fulfilment. From a very early
marvellous work. age I became aware just how rare real freedom
was for women at work, and in society.
What memories do you have of your time
at Birkbeck?
It is a long time ago, but certain memories Up to 2016, the annual Andrew Booth Memorial Lecture
remain clear. I got embroiled in the early speech commemorated Professor Booth's work in creating some
recognition work of Professor Booth himself, so of the world’s first electronic computers at Birkbeck.
I spent hours doing clever things like intoning From 2017, the 60th anniversary of the Computer
into a tape recorder ‘one … two … three … four’ Science and Information Systems Department at
Dame Stephanie
– that was my contribution! So it is very much Birkbeck, the renamed Andrew and Kathleen Booth Shirley
a personal privilege to have given this year’s Lecture also honours Kathleen Booth’s work on (Justin Sutcliffe/
Andrew and Kathleen Booth Lecture. designing and programming these early computers eyevine)
8 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 9
research intensive and offering an excellent teaching and a curriculum the TEF. As ever, Birkbeck punched
inspirational classroom experience in at the forefront of research”. well above its weight nationally; it
the evening. From bestowing an institutional was rated higher in TEF terms than
When the results were announced award, the TEF is now evolving into Russell Group luminaries such as the
in June 2017, Birkbeck was awarded offering subject-specific ones. Here LSE, Liverpool and Southampton
a prestigious Silver award. The TEF at Birkbeck, a Student Experience Universities, which all achieved a
panel’s judgement acknowledged Review is underway to address our Bronze rating.
Birkbeck’s work to attract and support two weaker NSS metrics. With a fair The TEF is a government-endorsed
students from diverse backgrounds, wind, we aspire to upgrade from measure of teaching quality and
mature learners and those who Silver to Gold TEF status at both a much more credible measure of
would not otherwise have engaged subject and institutional level. the student experience than the
with higher education, and to help Our staff, students and alumni commercially driven league tables.
them progress into postgraduate should take heart from our Silver In the 2018 TEF, we will continue
study or graduate jobs. It also noted rating, as London institutions to explain to policymakers what
our institutional culture, which traditionally fare very poorly in makes our student experience both
“facilitates, recognises and rewards student experience surveys such as distinctive and special.
BIRKBECK Dr Grace Halden and Dr Sergio organised ‘The Contemporary:
EXCELLENCE Gutiérrez Santos have been
recognised for their outstanding and
An exhibition’, a pop-up museum
designed to further enable students
IN TEACHING innovative approaches to teaching in
the College’s annual teaching award
to display their extra-curricular
creative responses to contemporary
AWARDS 2017 scheme, the Birkbeck Excellence in
Teaching Awards (BETAs).
literature, culture and theory, using
film, performance, photography,
Dr Halden is a cultural historian virtual reality and writing.
and war scholar, specialising in Dr Gutiérrez Santos, formerly
GLITTERING PRIZES modern and contemporary literature.
As a lecturer in the Department of
English and Humanities, she has
taken strides to embed technology
a lecturer in Computer Science at
Birkbeck and now Visiting Research
Fellow in the Department of
Computer Science and Information
The new Teaching Excellence Framework measures the quality of teaching in UK universities. and creativity at the heart of learning Systems, is particularly interested
within the MA Contemporary in the applications of artificial
Professor Diane Houston considers Birkbeck’s Silver award Literature and Culture programme. intelligence to teaching and learning.
Her innovations include exploring Dr Gutiérrez Santos said that
and showcasing learning beyond he considered his lecturing role to
I
n recent years, Birkbeck has research output and global impact. IT systems and online processes for summative assessments, such as the be one of supporting students to
been at the sharp end of The College was assessed over six delivering its learning and teaching. creation of a task in which students develop practical programming
Left: Students at Birkbeck’s Malet Street
government policy, with infrequent core metrics: quality of teaching; Across the six areas of TEF campus produce short films inspired by skills, helping them to evolve from
consideration being given by non-continuation rates (often called assessment we had four very positive Below: Drs Grace Halden and Sergio critical theory. complete novices to competent
policymakers to the importance of the ‘drop-out rate’); National Student datasets to demonstrate outstanding Gutiérrez Santos in Gordon Square In 2016 and 2017, Dr Halden programmers, who can attack real-
part-time higher education, or to Survey (NSS) scores for academic outcomes for our students over the world problems.
the complex needs of busy, mature support; NSS scores for assessment past three years, while remaining Deputy Pro-Vice Master for
students, who combine work or caring and feedback; the percentage true to our mission of widening Learning and Teaching Tim
responsibilities with intensive study in of students in further study or participation. Birkbeck’s uniqueness, Markham added: “Competition for
the evening. employment; and the percentage history and evolving student the 2017 BETAs was particularly
As the first full-time Pro-Vice Master of students in highly skilled experience also allowed us to tell fierce. It’s always hard as a panel to
for Education at Birkbeck, I was employment. The ‘prize’ was to be a very strong and authentic story decide between entries that come in
tasked in December 2016 with leading awarded a Gold, Silver or Bronze about the two areas of challenge in from across the range of subjects we
the College’s submission to the new rating as result. The ability to increase our TEF submission: the complexity teach, especially as their innovations
Teaching Excellence Framework tuition fees by the rate of inflation was of delivering highly concentrated often spring from the challenges of
(TEF). The TEF is the brainchild of also tied to a Silver or Gold outcome. academic support in the 60 minutes teaching particular disciplines. But
Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities, As a research-led, predominantly before classes start at 6pm each our approach is always to reward
Science, Research and Innovation. part-time institution, Birkbeck had evening; and giving detailed ideas that have legs, the kind of
It has been introduced to assess the a particularly challenging set of feedback. approaches that lecturers in different
quality of teaching and learning in national benchmarks to meet in We didn't try to spin the metrics departments can learn from and
universities in England, similar to the each of these categories, as we were we had. We were factual and open, potentially incorporate into their
long-established Research Excellence compared directly to the Open highlighting that there are no other own teaching.”
Framework (REF), which measures University, which has industrial-scale universities in the UK that are both
10 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 11
The LMI’s minutes record that he initially rented
a cupboard in the secretary’s office. By 1866, the
Bank had taken over the LMI’s ground floor
and, in 1885, it funded the Institute’s move,
as the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institute,
“
BIRKBECK
TAVERNS
APPEAR TO
rest of the estate being developed piecemeal
around Birkbeck (now Holmesdale) Road.
Other Birkbeck taverns, such as the one in
East Dulwich, appear to have been designed as
community facilities that were integral to the
to purpose-built premises nearby. HAVE BEEN fabric of the estates.
The Birkbeck Bank collapsed in 1911, DESIGNED AS A plot for a public house was included in
becoming part of what is now the Royal COMMUNITY the design of the Holloway Road (Archway)
Bank of Scotland. Before its collapse, it had FACILITIES estate and offered by ballot in 1855 along
played a significant role in the late Victorian with the house plots. In the event, the BLBS
suburbanisation of London. The earliest itself built the tavern and obtained the licence
BLBS estates were laid out in the early 1850s for it, subsequently advancing money for its
in Highgate, Archway and East Dulwich. purchase. While several Birkbeck estates retain
All three estates had taverns, the fabric of their middle-class character today, the Birkbeck
which still stands today. Archway estate became a notorious slum prior
The first was the Highgate Birkbeck Tavern, to the Second World War and the subject of
now a popular licensed 1960s music venue, a sociological study before its clearance and
The Boogaloo, but still with its Birkbeck mosaic redevelopment in the early 1970s by the Greater
intact on the threshold. The pub was first London Council. The fabric of the Birkbeck
built as the ‘Birkbeck Hotel’ to catch passing Tavern survives, however, together with some
traffic at the top of Archway Road, with the of the original BLBS terraces. >
BIRKBECK THROUGHOUT
LONDON ARCHWAY N19
ENFIELD EN2
MILL HILL NW7 WOODFORD GREEN IG8
MUSWELL HILL N10 TOTTENHAM N17
HIGHGATE N6 ROMFORD RM7
ILFORD IG2
EAST ACTION W3
HIGHGATE N6
SOUTH EALING W5 ACTON W3
ACTON CENTRAL W3
BIRKBECK’S V
isitors to Stratford East who venture
beyond the confines of University Square SIDCUP DA14
and wander past – or into – the Birkbeck
BOOZERS Tavern a mile or so north may wonder what,
if anything, the pub has to do with Birkbeck,
University of London. The answer is – a lot!
WIMBLEDON SW19
BECKENHAM BR3
The Birkbeck Tavern is part of the Leytonstone
The pubs set up by the Birkbeck Bank helped sustain Birkbeck estate, a development financed by EAST DULWICH SE21
the Birkbeck Bank. The Bank, known as ‘The
the College’s forerunner, the London Mechanics’ Birkbeck’, was established in the premises of the
Institute. Richard Clarke explores the link between College’s forerunner, the London Mechanics’
alcohol and the ‘self-advancement’ movement Institute (LMI) in 1851. The Bank grew out of
the Birkbeck Land Society and Building Society LEYTON E11
(BLBS), one of the first of the ‘permanent’
building societies formed after the collapse of
Chartism and the Chartist Cooperative Land
Company, and a noted haven for savings of the
provident working class. It was the brainchild
of Francis Ravenscroft, whose bust rests on a
window ledge in Birkbeck’s Council Room today.
Ravenscroft (later to become half of the gown- SURVIVING BIRKBECK TAVERNS
makers Ede and Ravenscroft) entered the LMI SURVIVING EVIDENCE OF OTHER
BIRKBECK ESTATES
Above: The Birkbeck Hotel in Highgate as a student in 1848 and was elected to chair the
(Courtesy Hornsey Historical Society) Institute’s governing body a couple of years later.
12 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 13
“
BEFORE ITS COLLAPSE, THE
BIRKBECK BANK HAD PLAYED A
SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE LATE
< Attempts were made to establish a tavern in
Beckenham, near Birkbeck Station. It is possible
that others may have been built (and remain to
be discovered) on some of the other 35
Birkbeck estates across London.
Left: The highly
decorative dome
of the Birkbeck
Bank in 1902 in
Chancery Lane,
demolished in
of the medical profession and insurance offices,
who sometimes charged higher premiums to
teetotallers.
Either way, the presence of taverns further
distances the BLBS from temperance as
VICTORIAN SUBURBANISATION The story of the Birkbeck pubs, and of 1962. The panels a movement, with the Birkbeck societies
OF LONDON the BLBS estates in which they were built, is feature portraits addressing constituencies broader than those
more than just a curiosity in the history of the of artists and targeted by competing temperance building
College. The foundation of the LMI in 1823 inventors societies. The LMI itself was determinedly
(Historic England)
was characterised by bitter disputes between secular and the presence of pubs underlines the
the champions of workers’ self-education, commercial nature of the BLBS.
represented by the LMI’s radical instigators By the 1870s, the ‘British’ model of private
Thomas Hodgskin and J C Robertson, and saving and speculative private building mediated
Benthamite Liberals, in particular Henry by the building society (and pioneered by The
Brougham, Francis Place and William Ellis; Birkbeck) was being advocated widely as a
these disputes had long since been resolved in solution to the housing crisis, homelessness and
favour of the latter. overcrowding – just as it is today. At the same
By mid-century, an individualist model of time, for The Birkbeck’s investors, a home and
self-help had come to dominate the ideology a mortgage provided a physical and financial
of the College (and of ‘polite’ society more complement to the ideological message of the
generally) in opposition to the collectivist LMI and its successors: that individual self-help,
vision of the LMI’s founders. rather than collective action, was the best route
By 1851, a decade after George Birkbeck’s to personal and societal progress.
death, the LMI was also in financial crisis. Birkbeck was, if not conceived, then delivered
Ravenscroft’s use of the LMI’s premises, as well in a pub, and it is fitting that pubs should figure
as George Birkbeck’s name, for the BLBS was in its history. Much remains to be discovered
not merely promotional. The BLBS provided the about this not-so-hidden history of Birkbeck in
Institute with much-needed financial support the London landscape – maybe even another
and offered a vehicle for realising the promised pub? Either way, a celebratory drink (or three) in
rewards of self-advancement to its students. the Leytonstone Birkbeck Tavern would make a
The Birkbeck’s promotional material (initially fitting adjunct to the College’s preparations for
aimed primarily at men) emphasised how saving its 2023 bicentenary.
could provide the benefits not just of secure
housing but also, prior to the 1867 Reform Act,
of a vote. At the same time, Ravenscroft was keen Richard Clarke is the Ben Pimlott Writer in Residence
to distance the BLBS from the taint of Chartism for 2017 in the Department of Politics. More on the
and emphasised the virtues of sobriety. Birkbeck Boozers can be found at http://eprints.bbk.
The presence of pubs on the Birkbeck estates ac.uk/12901 and http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/15058
raises a number of questions. At least some of
the taverns appear to have been planned into
the designs of the Birkbeck estates as social
facilities, but if so, they were the only such
facilities to be provided. This contrasts with
the designs of quasi-philanthropic working-
class housing estates, several of which included
schools, meeting rooms, baths or wash-rooms
(though these were frequently never built) but
never pubs. There is no evidence of the Birkbeck
estates having restrictive covenants on the sale of
alcohol, unlike those developed by temperance
societies of the period.
The presence of (or proposals for) taverns on
the Birkbeck estates challenges a widely held
view that abstinence – at least in public – was
associated with respectability. While some argue
that an absence of pubs was associated with
Right: The
status and enhanced property values, the estates
bust of Francis
of some other land societies did include licensed Ravenscroft, which
premises. Nor was abstinence universally sits in Birkbeck’s
associated with well-being, at least on the part Council Room
14 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 15
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS Far left: Professor Martin Paul Eve
Left: A child taking part in work at the Babylab, part
of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
Below (left to right): Professor Jennifer Hornsby
and Professor Lynda Nead
Birkbeck staff and the College itself have been awarded major grants and recognised by Right: Simon Davis
national and international bodies
AWARDS Birkbeck has been awarded to encourage and promote Sciences. Director of the
The workings of the £1.5 million over a five-year the study of astronomy, LLM/MA Human Rights,
academic peer-review period by the Wellcome geophysics and related he is an expert on legal
process are being Trust’s Institutional Strategic branches of science. His and human rights issues in
investigated by a Birkbeck Support Fund, one of only research at Birkbeck has Russia and Eastern/Central
team led by Professor 30 institutions in the UK focused on lunar science Europe, specialising in for the humanities and litigation partner at law
Martin Paul Eve through a and Ireland to benefit from and exploration and he is minority rights. As a social sciences. Professor firm Clifford Chance, has
US$99,000 research grant such funding in 2016. The an adviser to the European barrister, he has taken a Hornsby and Professor had a legal career spanning
from the Andrew W Mellon awards are focused on areas Space Agency. number of cases to the David Feldman, Director more than 30 years and
Foundation. The Reading of strategic importance European Court of of the Pears Institute for has closely supported
Peer Review project will to Wellcome and the Psychologists Professor Human Rights. the Study of Antisemitism Birkbeck’s Scholars’
analyse the peer review individual universities, Mark Johnson and the late at Birkbeck, have also Evening.
database at PLOS ONE, within medical and clinical Professor Annette Karmiloff- The European Consortium been awarded visiting
the largest scientific journal sciences, public health, Smith, Centre for Brain and for Political Research has fellowships at All Souls Professor Lynda Nead,
in the world, to develop social sciences and Cognitive Development, honoured Professor Joni College, Oxford. Department of History
better ways of using expert medical humanities. were awarded the biennial Lovenduski, Department of of Art, has been appointed
opinion to assess and RECOGNITIONS in higher education, but William Thierry Preyer Politics, with its Lifetime Eminent Birkbeck by the Prime Minister as
improve papers. Professor A further Wellcome Trust Professor Claire Callender, has broadened to other Award in June 2017 Achievement Award. For staff have received two a Trustee of the Victoria
Eve, Department of English award has gone to Professor Department of Psychosocial subject areas and now aims for their collaborative more than 30 years she has honorary doctorates and Albert Museum.
and Humanities, has also Joanna Bourke, Department Studies, was awarded an to tackle equality generally. work. This recognises published widely on gender from Scandinavian She has published widely
been awarded the Medal of of History, Classics and OBE in the New Year the achievements of and politics, developing institutions. Professor on the history of British
Honour in the Humanities Archaeology. She has been Honours 2017, for services Professor Marina Warner, distinguished psychologists the field within political Ulrike Hahn, Department of art, including books on
and Social Sciences by given its Investigator Award to higher education. Department of English in contributing to the better science, and has been at Psychological Sciences, was Victorian London, early
Katholieke Universiteit in Humanities and Social Professor Callender has and Humanities, has understanding of human the forefront of research. made Doctor of Philosophy film, and the art and culture
Leuven in Belgium. It is Science to look into the role been a leading figure become the first female development. by the University of Lund of post-war Britain. She has
awarded to laureates of of medicine and psychiatry in research into student president of the Royal Professor Jennifer Hornsby, in Sweden in recognition served on advisory boards
exceptional academic in understanding, treating finance and debt over Society of Literature since Birkbeck Fellow Sir Tom Department of Philosophy, of her distinguished at the Museum of London,
or social distinction. and preventing sexual the past 20 years, and has its foundation in 1820. The Blundell has been presented has been elected as a Fellow research career. Professor Tate and the Foundling
violence from the early also given evidence to the RSL is the UK’s national with the Ewald Prize, the of the British Academy, Helen Saibil, Department Museum.
nineteenth century to House of Commons Select charity for the advancement most prestigious award in the UK’s national body of Biological Sciences,
the present. Committees on a number of literature, as well as the field of crystallography, was honoured by the
of occasions. honouring and encouraging which is given once every Philosophy faculty of the
Professor Frank Trentmann, great writing through three years for outstanding University of Helsinki at
also from History, Classics Birkbeck’s ongoing fellowships and awards. contributions and a ceremony marking the
and Archaeology, has commitment to achieving Professor Warner has recognises his worldwide centenary of Finland’s
been funded to the tune gender equality across additionally been honoured leadership in the field. independence.
of £60,000 through the the College has been with a British Academy Sir Tom, a former head
Humboldt Research recognised with the Medal for her services of the Department of Simon Davis, a Governor of
Prize. It is awarded to renewal of its Athena to academia. Crystallography at Birkbeck, has been elected
outstanding academics, SWAN Bronze Award by Birkbeck, is celebrated for President of the Law
with winners invited to the Equality Challenge Professor Ian Crawford, his part in determining the Society of England and
spend up to 12 months on Unit for a further three from the Department structure of insulin and co- Wales, the leading body
academic collaboration years. The award was of Earth and Planetary founding the biotechnology representing solicitors.
with specialist colleagues originally conceived to Sciences, has been elected company Astex. He has already taken office
in Germany. Professor encourage the advancement Vice President of the Royal as deputy vice president
Trentmann has spent of the careers of women Astronomical Society. Professor Bill Bowring, and will become vice
his time working in science, technology, For the past decade, he Department of Law, has president during 2018
on moral economy in engineering, mathematics has been secretary to the been made a Fellow of and president in 2019.
Konstanz and Berlin. and medicines (STEMM) society, which was founded the Academy of Social Mr Davis, a commercial
16 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 17
“
OUR EXPERTISE IN ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
HAS ENABLED BIRKBECK RESEARCHERS
TO TAKE A LEAD IN TRAINING THE NEXT
RACE AND THE LAW
GENERATION OF MICROSCOPISTS Dr Nadine El-Enany and Dr Sarah Keenan, co-Directors of the Centre for
Research on Race and Law, welcome its timely contribution to tackling racism
T
recognised by the award of the 2017 Nobel Prize he Centre for Research on Race and Law constructed, law is perhaps the most significant.
in Chemistry to three scientists jointly for their (CRRL) was launched on 15 May 2017. There is, therefore, an urgent need for cutting-
developments in this field. A team of scientists Its purpose is to bring together work in edge, rigorous analysis on the theoretical and
at Birkbeck and the Institute of Structural and the School of Law and elsewhere in Birkbeck material connections between race and law.
Molecular Biology (ISMB) – supported by on the conceptual and practical connections Law as a discipline in Britain and the global
colleagues in Estates and Computing – has now between race and law, and to create a space North has traditionally failed to address
been awarded £2.34 million by the Wellcome for engagement with the public and with questions of race, focusing instead on questions
Trust, enabling the College to buy a state-of-the- professional and grassroots organisations in of equality as confined to the field of human
art cryo-electron microscope to conduct such tackling racism. rights or discrimination law. These fields are
experiments. The Centre’s members are drawn from across limited in their understanding of racism as
Since its invention in the 1930s, electron the College, including from the departments being an aberration from legal norms and
microscopy has steadily improved in power of Law, Criminology, Geography, and primarily perpetuated by individuals, rather
and sophistication, and recent advances have Psychosocial Studies. than structurally produced.
moved this method to the forefront of structural The establishment of a Centre for Research Critical Race Theory scholarship is less
biology. In particular, rapid freezing of samples on Race and Law at Birkbeck is a timely developed in Britain than in the USA, despite
to liquid nitrogen temperatures (~-195°C) intervention into scholastic and public the fact that law is the principal means through
allows sample preservation to be maintained engagement. While in other disciplines the use which policies such as austerity, border control,
inside the microscope, and provides some of race as a core analytical concept is established, surveillance and environmental exploitation –
cryo-protection from the otherwise damaging this is less so for law, which has tended to focus policies that disproportionally impact people
effects of the electrons that are used for sample on narrower analytical frameworks, which make who are racialised as non-white –
imaging. Understanding the structures of race implicit or peripheral rather than central are implemented and maintained.
biological molecules and assemblies reveals their Below: and explicit. Yet, of the various discursive The CRRL is already providing a space for the
mechanisms and makes it possible to design © Cole Peters 2017 and material means through which race is interdisciplinary conversations and collaborative
drugs or treatments for diseases. projects necessary for the development of robust
The research projects that will be done at critiques of the ways in which law upholds
Birkbeck on the new microscope are focused on structures of race and racism, and for thinking
FREEZE FRAME
molecular machines, including those involved in about anti-racist and decolonial strategies.
protein synthesis, protein folding and unfolding, Following its successful launch event on racism
and reversal of protein aggregation. These are and Brexit in spring 2017, the Centre held two
important in maintaining our health and in events in the autumn. The first was to host the
Birkbeck’s state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscope protecting against neurodegenerative diseases, Feminist Legal Studies 25th anniversary lecture,
such as Alzheimer’s. at which feminist scholar Sara Ahmed spoke on
is vital to our understanding of molecular machines, Our expertise in electron microscopy has the politics of complaint, exploring how sexism
says Professor Carolyn Moores enabled Birkbeck researchers to take a lead in and racism become usual within institutions
training the next generation of microscopists. and what happens when we challenge abuses
Many current electron microscopy experts in the of power. The second event was a workshop
W
ithin every cell in our body are many UK and abroad received their research training examining the possibility of achieving anti-racist
tiny machines that drive processes at Birkbeck, while UK and international students goals through strategic litigation.
required for maintenance, movement, have benefited from the prestigious biennial This spring, the CRRL will be collaborating
multiplication and maturation. This nanoscale European Molecular Biology Organisation with the Vasari Research Centre for Art and
machinery is vital for cell function and therefore (EMBO)-funded Practical Course in Image Technology at Birkbeck to organise a conference
for our health. Malfunction and breakdown of Processing for Cryo-Electron Microscopy. From exploring the way in which race is constructed
the machinery can cause disease, from dementia next year, an online Postgraduate Certificate in and formed by contemporary surveillance
to cancer. To catch glimpses of these molecular Electron Microscopy will also be offered. practices and techniques.
machines at work, and to understand what Above: The launch of the new microscope will The CRRL will continue to provide
happens when their function is disrupted, Dynamics of a be celebrated as part of the biennial ISMB encouragement and a welcome space for all
requires careful sample preparation, detailed protein folding Symposium, to be held in June 2018. those who want to engage with race and law.
machine revealed
imaging in three dimensions and sophisticated
by cryo-electron
computational analysis. microscopy
Cryo-electron microscopy is a powerful (Professor Professor Carolyn Moores is Professor of Structural To keep up to date with the CRRL’s activities,
technique for undertaking such studies – as Helen Saibil) Biology in the Department of Biological Sciences follow us on Twitter @CentreRaceLaw
18 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 19EVENTS Public lectures
Birkbeck’s annual programme of
memorial lectures includes the Lord
Arts Week
More than 1,300 people attended
61 events and two installations in
Marshall Lecture, delivered this Birkbeck’s largest-ever Arts Week.
Highlights of Birkbeck’s year by Lord Browne, speaking on Highlights included: live performance
public lectures, events and ‘Authenticity in business’. The lecture poetry by students and staff; a theatre
commemorates Lord Marshall, former scratch night, showcasing new short
conferences in 2017 Chief Executive of British Airways plays; a talk by John Beverley on
and Chair of Governors at Birkbeck, the legacy of postcolonial criticism;
and his lasting influence on business and, in association with the Bethlem
and society. Lord Browne, one of the Gallery, an exhibition in Birkbeck’s
UK’s leading business executives, Peltz Gallery of works from the
began as an apprentice at BP, rising Adamson Collection, a renowned
to serve as CEO before resigning in archive of objects made by residents
Science Week 2007 following newspaper reports of British psychiatric hospitals
‘Attention, nature and nurture’ about his personal life. He has since between 1946 and 1981 under the
was the theme of our Science Week written The Glass Closet, which affirms guidance of art therapy pioneer
Rosalind Franklin Lecture, delivered the importance of people having the Edward Adamson. The exhibition,
by Professor Gaia Scerif, from the freedom to be their authentic selves ‘Mr A Moves in Mysterious Ways’,
University of Oxford, who shared in the workplace. was curated by Dr Heather Tilley
her investigations into the interplay In February, eminent South African (Department of English and
between attention, memory and judge Dikgang Moseneke gave the Humanities) and Dr Fiona Johnstone
learning, and the different ways annual Patrick McAuslan Lecture, in (Department of Art History) in
children and adults deploy attention which he spoke of the contemporary association with Birkbeck’s Centre for
to optimise their memory. challenges and the need to address Medical Humanities, and supported
The School of Science also opened economic inequalities in his country. by a Wellcome Trust/Birkbeck ISSF
its doors to students, staff and the Justice Moseneke began his university (Institutional Strategic Support
public for a week of lectures, film degrees while serving a prison Fund) Public Engagement Award.
screenings and discussions, with staff sentence on Robben Island, with his The School of Arts also hosted
from the Department of Biological friend Nelson Mandela, for opposing Birkbeck’s first ‘Three Minute Thesis’
Sciences talking about fungi in apartheid. He went on to draft the competition, which challenged the
heritage buildings, and a film and interim constitution that ushered College’s PhD students to present
panel discussion on antibiotic in democracy and transition from their research to a non-specialist
resistance. Other highlights included apartheid. A transcript of the lecture is audience in 180 seconds. The winner
Above: Professor Mike Oaksford, Head of due to be published in 2018 as part of was John Siblon (Department of
Professor Gaia Scerif, who delivered Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck, the School of Law’s 25th anniversary History, Classics and Archaeology),
the Rosalind Franklin Lecture speaking on the ‘source of human celebrations. whose research focuses on
Below:
irrationality’, and a discussion among Campaigner Peter Tatchell representations of black colonial
Left to right: Professor David Latchman,
Professor Philip Powell, Lady Marshall, Department of Earth Sciences staff on delivered the annual LGBT History servicemen in the aftermath of the
Lord Browne and Professor Joanna Bourke, what controls the Earth’s long-term Month Lecture in March, referencing First World War. John said: “The
at the Lord Marshall Lecture climate. the fiftieth anniversary of the competition was incredibly useful,
Sexual Offences Act 1967, which as it focused my mind on why
decriminalised private homosexual I undertook the thesis and what
acts between men aged over 21. my findings could be used for.”
He addressed ongoing problems
that work against equality for
LGBT people – from the difficulties
facing LGBT refugees to ongoing
failure to respond to homophobic
harassment and bullying in school,
and the day-to-day experiences of
hate crime. Change, he concluded,
needs people to come together saying
‘enough is enough’, to dream of what
a better future might look like and
then to engage in the struggle to
make it happen. Image:
A fascinating journey through the Live performance, part of Arts Week
streets of Soviet Russia, exploring > (Dominic Mifsud)
20 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 21< the bursts of capitalism and crime since 1983 in honour of Birkbeck’s Professor of Higher Education matters with religion. Philosopher
following Gorbachev’s perestroika, first Professor of Organizational Studies at Birkbeck, and economist Akeel Bilgrami, from Columbia
and the latest changes to Russian Psychology. Drawing on her research Baroness Wolf of Dulwich, reflected University, USA, looked at the
society under Putin, was led by into managing organisational on Ruth’s contribution to higher problems that the political and legal
historian Catherine Merridale in her change, workplace flexibility and the education policy and discussed the philosophy of liberalism encounter
Hobsbawm Memorial Lecture in employment relationship, Professor future of higher education. Baroness in dealing with religion. His lecture
May on ‘Russia’s revolution and the Kossek discussed the challenges Wolf advocated a major shift towards focused on Islamic identity and the
destruction of the past’. Professor of establishing a healthy work–life a more flexible higher education case of free speech and blasphemy.
Merridale discussed the ‘confusion’ balance, and how small interventions landscape, to support all students, Other highlights included: poet
in Russia over how to mark the to improve employee motivation can through the creation of a lifelong Kwame Dawes speaking about the
centenary of its revolution. She called have a big impact throughout an learning fund. The envisaged fund Rastafari religion and the ‘Babylon
on historians to act as witnesses to organisation. could universalise access and bring system’, relating spiritual, political
a past that is vanishing from public The Ruth Thompson about a radical improvement to and geographical features to diaspora,
consciousness, saying: “Russia shows Commemorative Lecture in October, widening participation in UK higher oppression and liberation; and
how history matters: politicians vie for co-hosted with the Higher Education education, she suggested. Birkbeck PhD candidate Daniele
Above: it, national identity is built on it.” Policy Institute, celebrated the life D’Alvia and Professor Maria
Professor Ellen Ernst Kossek, who
delivered the Alec Rodger Memorial Lecture
In July, Professor Ellen Ernst of Dr Ruth Thompson, leading Law on Trial Aristodemou’s exploration of
Right: Kossek, from Purdue University in the Treasury civil servant and Deputy Law on Trial 2017 invited expert Islamic finance and the relationship
Poet Kwame Dawes, who spoke as part USA, delivered the 2017 Alec Rodger Chair of Governors at Birkbeck, who scholars from around the world between Western financial habits
of Law on Trial Memorial Lecture, held annually died in July 2016. Claire Callender, to discuss the intersection of legal and Sharia rules.
BIRKBECK AT House of Commons debate on
night schools
Part-time students and the Higher
Education and Research Act 2017
Left: David Lammy MP An exceptionally large number of experiences of the students I met
WESTMINSTER
Below: Dame Joan Bakewell amendments to the Bill (more than with exemplify perfectly why
Birkbeck’s outreach work in Speaking in January as the Higher 500) were proposed by members of tailored and individual pre-entry
Tottenham and Haringey was praised Education and Research Bill the House of Lords. Proposing these, advice and guidance is so important
Highlights of Birkbeck’s in Parliament in January during progressed through Parliament, Labour’s Lord Stevenson said: “We for students who face additional
Tottenham MP David Lammy’s Birkbeck President Baroness Bakewell should try to open up the provision challenges to completing successful
political engagement debate on night schools. David called on the Government to give that is available in higher education degree study, such as combining it
in 2017 Lammy stressed the importance of part-time study a “much stronger … to ensure that equal parity is given with family life, work or who have
learning new skills in the modern role” in its thinking about higher to those who wish to study part-time, spent many years outside the formal
economy and called for a national education. Baroness Bakewell said she and in particular mature students who education system.
strategy on adult education, saying: believed part-time study and lifelong very often need to be more flexible in “These students are inspirational
“The jobs of the future have not even learning were “the shape of the what they do.” in their commitment to building
been created yet, so there is no way future” and would play an important a better future for themselves
the education that people get in their role in the lives of people wanting to Director of OFFA visits Birkbeck and their families through the
teens and early 20s can prepare and retrain in new skills. Les Ebdon, Director of the Office opportunities that Birkbeck offers.”
support them through their whole Baroness Bakewell’s comments were for Fair Access (OFFA), visited
lives.” supported by Birkbeck Fellow, and Birkbeck in July, where he met the Meeting at 10 Downing Street
Birkbeck Master David Latchman former Master of Birkbeck, Baroness Master, David Latchman, students Following the Prime Minister’s
and Birkbeck staff met the MP later Tessa Blackstone, who said: “We and the Widening Access team. They announcement at the October
in the year to brief him as part of the have to get away from the notion discussed Birkbeck’s continued role Conservative Party Conference
College’s lobbying work to ensure that university and higher education in promoting and supporting mature in Manchester that there is to be
support for part-time and mature is primarily about full-time study … students into study, at a time when a review into higher education
learners. They highlighted Birkbeck’s things are changing and we are going numbers are in crisis. funding, Birkbeck Master David
outreach work in Stratford, east to see far more part-time students in Students and prospective students Latchman and Policy Adviser
London and in Tottenham, where the coming years.” who were introduced to Birkbeck via Jonathan Woodhead met with
residents can gain a Certificate The Higher Education and Research the College’s outreach programmes officials in the Number 10 Policy
of Higher Education in Higher Bill became an Act of Parliament in shared their experiences with Unit in Downing Street. In
Education Introductory Studies, April 2017, creating a new regulatory Professor Ebdon, explaining the “constructive” discussions, the
which on successful completion gives body for higher education: the importance of being able to speak Master emphasised the importance
students a chance to enter a degree Office for Students. During the directly to an adviser, to find out how of part-time higher education and
programme at Birkbeck. parliamentary process, Birkbeck to finance their studies and to be for the needs of older learners to be
won the backing of members in both reassured about the practicalities of considered in any funding review or
Houses, who raised concerns over the combining work, family and study. policy change.
lack of specific support for mature and Professor Ebdon praised Birkbeck’s
part-time learners. widening access initiatives: “The
22 OUR YEAR OUR YEAR 23You can also read
