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
