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The British Library not only contains 14 million books and 920,000 journals it also stages a rolling programme of free exhibitions. Its latest exhibition, Taking Liberties, explores the 900-year struggle for Britain’s freedoms and rights.
Rights such as free speech, free press and the rule of law were all milestones in the development of Britain’s constitution and were often a result of either a violent struggle or a product of hundreds of years of debate.
(Source: Visit London)
The exhibition contains iconic documents such as the Magna Carta, produced in 1215 by King John of England to acknowledge the population’s rights and freedoms, and the Minutes of Committee for Abolition of Slavery which sat for the first time in 1787.
A series of thought-provoking lectures support the exhibition including talks from Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti, a tireless advocate of human rights, and Polly Toynbee who discusses the state of women’s rights a century after the suffragettes. You can listen to all of the lectures on the British Library’s website.
The exhibition uncovers the roots of our democracy but also demonstrates that over time these rights and privileges change and should not be taken for granted.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
Ravensbourne has a design and communication portfolio spanning fashion; broadcasting; product; graphics; moving image; interaction; architecture; media and sound design; animation; and performance video. Students at the college regularly win awards for Graduate Fashion Week, D&AD, New Designers, RSA Design Directions, Audi Design Foundation, Promax and many more.
Ravensbourne is a centre of excellence. It is a Skillset Media Academy and is internationally renowned for the high calibre of its media and communication activity. The College benefits from a £10m industry standard broadcast facility containing advanced post-production facilities. Each year the College hosts Rave on Air – the largest student run broadcasting event in the UK. It showcases current and future broadcast technologies and is attended by large numbers of industry delegates.
The College has strong links with industry leaders such as the BBC, ITV, Audi, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Channel 4. It is an Authorised Training Centre for both Apple and Adobe. All Ravensbourne students enjoy a vibrant community with excellent industry links and professional work placements.
Quick facts:
- Approximately 1,300 students; 50 academic and 130 sessional staff; income about £12 million.
- The range of creative courses spans the educational spectrum from Foundation and BA through to a portfolio of inspirational postgraduate qualifications and professional short courses.
- Notable alumni include fashion queen, Stella McCartney; designer, Bruce Oldfield and musician, David Bowie.
Contact details
Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication
Walden Road
Chislehurst
Kent, BR7 5SN
Tel: +44 (0)20 8289 4900
Email: info@rave.ac.uk
Web: www.rave.ac.uk
**This profile is part of a series which forms a directory of London’s universities. You can read more university profiles here as they are published.**
The Law School at City University London has announced it is delivering its Maritime Law LLM for the first time in Greece, the centre of the world’s shipping industry. Modules from the LLM will be taught in the Laskaridou Library of Piraeus and will run twice a year, in both March and September.
All modules delivered in Greece are based on City’s LLM in Maritime Law and include: Carriage of Goods by Sea; Admiralty Law; Marine Insurance; International Sales Law; and World Trade Law.
London’s universities and higher education colleges already attract a large number of Greek students to London. The LLM in Maritime Law is a unique qualification and will give students an excellent insight into the Greek shipping industry while allowing participants who have employment or family commitments in Greece to take modules while remaining in the country.
London is home to the National Maritime Museum
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary is a large multi-faculty college spanning three sectors: humanities, social sciences and laws; medicine and dentistry; and science and engineering.
The College is ranked in the top 14 universities in England and the top 100 in the world (THES).
Queen Mary recently invested over £200 million in new buildings and refurbishments across its campuses. These include a state-of-the art award winning medical school building; the Walter Besant chemistry building featuring a teaching lab for 120 students; and the award winning Lock-keepers’ Cottage Graduate Centre and Arts Quarter.
Quick facts:
- 13,000 students; over 1,000 academic staff; annual turnover of £200 million.
- Approximately 250 undergraduate courses and 170 taught postgraduate and diploma courses.
- Notable alumni include IVF pioneer, Professor Lord Robert Winston; politician, Peter Hain MP; news reporter, Bridgid Nzekwu.
Contact details
Queen Mary, University Of London
Mile End Road
London, E1 4NS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 5555
Web: www.qmul.ac.uk
**This profile is part of a series which forms a directory of London’s universities. You can read more university profiles here as they are published.**
Chinese New Year celebrations at Trafalgar Square
The Chinese Year of the Ox will be celebrated with festivities across London. The traditional Chinese Lion dance displays will take place in Trafalgar Square, where a stage will showcase traditional and contemporary Chinese arts. The celebrations will finish with fireworks in Leicester Square.
To coincide with Chinese New Year celebrations, Shanghai in London will be launched. This series of events will showcase Shanghai’s heritage and its preparations for hosting the World Expo 2010 – an exhibition that will straddle the Huanpu River and house pavilions representing over 200 countries and international organisations.
As part of Shanghai in London, visitors to the British Museum can enjoy Treasures from Shanghai, a spectacular display of ancient Chinese bronzes and jades loaned from the Shanghai Museum collection.
The Victoria & Albert Museum hosts Inheritance and Innovation: Wisdom in Urban Development, a seminar exploring how World Expos have changed since London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Finally, City Hall hosts a photography exhibition which charts Shanghai’s rapid development in recent years.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
The Photographers’ Gallery
The new venue for the Photographers’ Gallery has opened just south of busy Oxford Street. The Gallery is London’s only dedicated space to photography and it contains two ever-changing galleries, a well-stocked bookshop, a great cafe and it is still free to enter.
The Gallery’s inaugural exhibition, called Soho Nights, explores the dark streets and brightly lit bars of Soho through photographs taken for the magazine Picture Post in the 1940s and early 1950s.
In addition, the Gallery also hosts lectures and talks throughout the year, many of them free, bringing together amateur and professional photographers. One of the highlights of the calendar is the Café Scientifique where topics as diverse as the molecular physics of sand castles and insect and animal gender are discussed.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Middlesex University
Middlesex University
Middlesex is one of the most popular UK universities for international students. The University has a campus in Dubai and also has brand new state-of-the-art facilities, located mainly on the University’s Hendon campus.
Middlesex has been awarded three Queen’s Awards for Higher and Further Education and a Queen’s Award for Enterprise (International Trade). The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has designated two areas of Middlesex work to be centres for excellence: Work Based Learning; and Mental Health and Social Work. The University’s research and enterprise work centres on its areas of international expertise which include flood hazard, small business development, dance and biomedical science.
Middlesex is recognised for the excellence and forward looking nature of its media-related courses and education. The University is a leader in the development of today’s creative industries. Students train in industry-standard studios and digital workshops using state-of-the-art equipment and software.
Quick facts:
- 22,000 students plus 8,000 studying worldwide; over 700 academic staff; annual turnover approximately £140 million.
- More than 400 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in four Schools: Engineering and Information Sciences; Arts and Education; Health and Social Sciences; and Middlesex University Business School.
- Notable alumni include film director Mike Figgis; novelist Andrea Levy; fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Contact details
Middlesex University
Hendon Campus
The Burroughs
London, NW4 4BT
Tel: +44 (0)20 8411 5555
Email: enquiries@mdx.ac.uk
Web: www.mdx.ac.uk
**This profile is part of a series which forms a directory of London’s universities. You can read more university profiles here as they are published.**
Trinity students perform (source: Laura Mtungwazi)
Trinity College of Music has announced its free music series for 2009. Featuring students, faculty and guest performers, there’s something for everyone – from opera to jazz, baroque to contemporary music.
- The free Tuesday Lunchtime Concerts Series is held in the stunning Old Royal Naval College Chapel, a baroque masterpiece of English architecture on the Old Royal Naval College site in Greenwich, Trinity’s campus. The series will include a diverse repertoire of music from throughout the ages.
- For jazz fans, Trinity’s free Beats in the Bar series is a must when jazz students and faculty perform with critically acclaimed guest artists.
- At the heart of Maritime Greenwich, St Alfege Church is the perfect venue for the free Thursday Lunchtime Concert Series. The sacred 1,000 year old church was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and dedicated in 1718. Solo instrumentalists and small ensembles make the most of the wonderful acoustics of this beautiful building.
Trinity College of Music has an international reputation as one of the premier institutions in the United Kingdom for the study of music. The College is celebrated for its fine facilities, which include state of the art practice rooms equipped with superb pianos, the outstanding Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts and the magnificent concert halls in nearby Blackheath.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
Peter Orszag (Source: LSE)
Barack Obama’s new budget director Peter Orszag is one of a number of London School of Economics (LSE) alumni appointed to the President’s administration.
Dr Orszag studied economics at the LSE as a Marshall scholar, getting a Master’s degree in 1992 and a PhD in 1997. He has been named director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama administration. Aged just 40, he will be a key member of the President’s economic team, advising him on a variety of issues including federal spending programmes and managing the federal budget.
Fellow LSE alumni appointed to the Obama team include Peter Rouse as chief of staff, Mona Sutphen as deputy chief of staff, and Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, as head of Obama’s new economic recovery advisory board.
Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk
London South Bank University
London South Bank University
London South Bank University (LSBU) is one of the largest universities in London. The main campus is easily accessible and situated just a short walk from many of London’s major landmarks.
Students are drawn to the university from across the globe, throughout the UK and from the local community. Strong links with employers ensure courses at LSBU equip students with the skills needed to succeed in employment.
LSBU has moved to 6th place for graduate starting salaries. Graduates are among the highest earning in the country enjoying an average of £23,315 (source: Sunday Times University Guide, 2008). A degree from LSBU is worth £25k more in career earnings than the average UK degree (source: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2006).
Quick facts:
- Over 23,500 students; nearly 660 academic staff; income of £120 million.
- LSBU offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at a variety of levels, including flexible and part-time programmes.
- Over 45,000 graduates worldwide belong to the LSBU Association
Contact details
London South Bank University
103 Borough Rd
London, SE1 0AA
Tel: +44 (0)20 7815 7815
Email: enquiry@lsbu.ac.uk
Web: www.lsbu.ac.uk
**This profile is part of a series which forms a directory of London’s universities. You can read more university profiles here as they are published.**
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