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Center for British Studies

Thanks to a generous endowment of $2.1 million from the Robert Kirk Underhill Trust, The Center for British Studies has been established at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Center, which officially opened in September 2003, provides a platform for one of the largest and most distinguished group of scholars studying British culture, society and history - spread across the arts, humanities, social sciences and professional schools - in the United States.

The Center has three objectives:

  • Strengthen Berkeley's intellectual and institutional ties to Britain
  • Support graduate and undergraduate teaching and research in British Studies
  • Support interdisciplinary research that recognises Britain's relationships with America, Europe and Commonwealth countries and their effects on British economy, society, politics and culture

Since its opening, the Center has endeavored to achieve these objectives by a host of visitors, including Alan Ryan (Oxford), Mary Poovey (NYU), Laura Gowing (London), Garrett FitzGerald (Former Taoiseach of Ireland), Keith Thomas (Oxford), and Stefan Collini (Cambridge). We've also awarded fellowships and prizes to undergraduate and graduate students, organized an exchange program between Pembroke College, Cambridge and UC Berkeley, and hosted workshops and conferences, including a dissertation workshop and a graduate student conference on culture and politics.

The Center for British Studies is ecumenical in its focus upon all constituent parts of the British Isles, the British empire and its legacies, as well as Britain's relationship with the European Community and the United States. Applicants for its undergraduate and graduate research fellowships need not necessarily have Britain as the primary focus of their research. We will support work on any part of the world that requires substantial research in Britain, although preference will given to those that are concerned with Britain's imperial or transnational influence and impact.

James Vernon
Director

Candace Groskreutz
Assistant Director

 

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