Goldsmiths College, University of London

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Goldsmiths College, University of London
Goldsmiths' Crest
Established 1891
Warden Professor Geoffrey Crossick
Students 7,660[1]
Undergraduates 4,700[1]
Postgraduates 2,570[1]
Location London, United Kingdom
Affiliations 1994 Group
Website www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/
The Main Building
Enlarge
The Main Building
The Ben Pimlott Building
Enlarge
The Ben Pimlott Building

Goldsmiths College, University of London (founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute) is a college of the University of London specialising in teaching of and research into creative, cultural and cognitive disciplines.

Contents

[edit] Location

The college is situated in New Cross, a highly populated area of south-east London. The college's main building was originally designed as a school (opened in 1844) by the architect John Shaw Jr (1803-1870). In addition to this the college also occupies many more modern buildings, including the RIBA award-winning Rutherford Information Services Building completed in 1997 and the Ben Pimlott Building designed by Will Alsop and completed in 2005.

[edit] History

In 1891 the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths set up a Technical and Recreative Institute, using the former Royal Naval School in New Cross as its base. In 1904 the Institute was acquired by the University of London and re-established as Goldsmiths College. Shortly after the acquisition, in 1907, the college added a new arts building, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, to the back of the main building. During the Second World War it was decided to evacuate the students and faculty of the college to the University College, Nottingham (now the University of Nottingham), a decision that proved wise when the main building was struck by an incendiary bomb and gutted in 1940 (the building was finally repaired in 1947). During the 1960s the college experienced a rapid expansion in student numbers and the main building was expanded and the Lockwood Building, Whitehead Building, Education Building, Warmington Tower and St James's Hall were all built during this period in order to accommodate the new students. In 1988 Goldsmiths became a full college of the University of London and in 1990 received its Royal Charter. Among its wardens have been Richard Hoggart and Ben Pimlott.

[edit] Research and Teaching

Goldsmiths is best known for courses and research relating to creativity and culture, and has a reputation for producing visual artists, particularly those collectively known as YBA. This reputation was largely established by the influence of Michael Craig-Martin, Jon Thompson and Nick De Ville as teaching staff. Its Sociology department has been important in the recent development of the discipline in Britain, with leading sociologists such as Paul Gilroy, Bev Skeggs, Nikolas Rose and Les Back working in the department in recent years. It is also well-known for its Cultural Studies, with leading figures in the discipline such as Angela McRobbie.

[edit] Organisation

Professor Geoffrey Crossick was appointed Warden of the college in 2005 following the death of Ben Pimlott, who had become Warden in 1998. Alumni are members of the Goldsmiths Society.

[edit] Student life

The college provides, amongst other things, catering facilities, a chaplaincy, a medical centre, a nursery and a gym for student use. Additionally, the Goldsmiths Students' Union runs two bars, organises numerous entertainment events, provides student representation and runs both a student magazine (Smiths) and a radio station (wired). All Goldsmiths students are also able to make use of the facilities of the University of London Union.

The university also owns 7 halls of residence which offer accommodation for students:

  • Batavia Mews
  • Chesterman House
  • Dean House
  • Loring Hall
  • Surrey House
  • Surrey House Annexe
  • Raymont Hall

[edit] Sports, clubs, and traditions

Sports teams and societies are organised by the Goldsmiths Students' Union. The union runs 18 sports clubs, 11 of which compete in either University of London Union or BUSA leagues. In addition the union runs 35 societies, ranging from political societies (such as the Liberal Democrats society or the Respect society) and identity-oriented societies (for instance the Sikh society and the LGBT society) to interest societies (the Music Society, the Photography Society) and the more eclectic societies (the Made in Goldsmiths Society and the Somewhere Else Society).

[edit] Alumni

See also Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths College, University of London.

[edit] Visual arts

[edit] Music

[edit] Literature

[edit] Performers

[edit] Politics

[edit] Finance

  • Andrew Fadairo, financier
  • Michael Lavelle, Managing Director, Head of Equity Capital Markets, Citigroup

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2004/05. Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.

[edit] External links


Recognised bodies of the University of London

Birkbeck | Courtauld Institute of Art | Central School of Speech and Drama | Goldsmiths | Heythrop | Imperial | Institute of Cancer Research | Institute of Education | King's | London Business School | LSE | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine | Queen Mary | Royal Academy of Music | Royal Holloway | Royal Veterinary College | St George's | SOAS | School of Pharmacy | UCL
Listed bodies

University of London Institute in Paris | School of Advanced Study | University Marine Biological Station, Millport
The 1994 Group (of smaller British research universities)
Bath | Birkbeck | Durham | East Anglia | Essex | Exeter | Goldsmiths College | Lancaster | Leicester | Loughborough | Queen Mary | Reading | Royal Holloway |
School of Oriental and African Studies | St Andrews | Surrey | Sussex | Warwick* | York
* Also a member of the Russell Group
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