The Center for British Studies at the University of California, Berkeley has since 2003 provided a platform for one of the largest and most distinguished groups of scholars studying British culture, society and history — spread across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and professional schools — in the United States. With a generous endowment of $2.1 million from the Robert Kirk Underhill Trust, the Center hosts or supports a wide array of scholarly, cultural, and educational activities.
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.
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 recognizes Britain's relationships with America, Europe and Commonwealth countries and their effects on British economy, society, politics and culture
