School of Slavonic & East European Studies interior 04

School of Slavonic & East European Studies interior 03

The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES ) is a

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

(UCL) specializing in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, Eastern and

South-Eastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and Eurasia. It teaches a range of subjects, including the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and languages of the region. It is Britain's largest centre for study of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and Russia. It has links with universities across Europe and beyond.

History

The school was founded by Robert Seton-Watson in 1915, as a department of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and inaugurated by

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdych ( ...

, later President of Czechoslovakia. In 1932 it became an independent institute of the University of London, but it merged with

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 1999.

Teaching

More than 60 staff teach and conduct research in the history, economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, culture, literature and languages of the countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and Russia. In 2012/2013 the school had over 200 graduate students studying taught MA degrees or undertaking PhD research. The school also has over 600 undergraduate students.

Research

Along with its undergraduate and graduate teaching, the school hosts several interdisciplinary research centres, groups and funded projects aimed at helping to expand research and understanding of its specialist regions. It is a major centre for training the next generation of regional specialists, through a combination of academic rigour and the skills and knowledge required by employers. It analyses and disseminates information about changes in the region, publishing periodicals, papers and books, holding conferences, public lectures, seminars and briefings, and providing experts to act as advisers to governments, the media and institutions.

Library

The library of some 357,000 volumes of books, pamphlets and periodicals is unique in the United Kingdom for the quantity of research material on open access and the extensive collection of regional newspapers. Its collections are consulted by scholars from all over the world. It has recently taken on a major role in providing electronic and audio-visual material on its area of study. The library moved from Senate House to a new building in

Taviton Street Taviton Street is a street in the Bloomsbury district of central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It runs between Endsleigh Gardens in the north and Gordon Square and Endsleigh Place in the south. University College London's School of Sla ...

in 2005. The main fields of interest are the languages, literature, history, politics, economics, geography and bibliography of the countries it covers. Subsidiary fields are the arts in general, demography, ethnography and religion. Material is also collected on the former

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(history, political and economic life), the history of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, the

Lusatian Sorbs Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenb ...

, and Slavonic and Ugro-Finnic studies in general. It houses the Bain Graffy Film Collection of films from and about Russia and Central and Eastern Europe.

Building

In May 2004 the foundation stone of the school's new building on Taviton Street,

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, was unveiled by the President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, in the presence of

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...

, Chancellor of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. The school moved to the building in the summer of 2005 after almost 90 years at

Senate House Senate House may refer to: * The building housing a legislative senate ** List of legislative buildings **Senate House State Historic Site, in Kingston, New York, where the state's first Constitution was ratified in 1777. * The building (formerly) h ...

Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the secon ...

President of the Czech Republic The president of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The president mostly has ceremonial powers as the day-to-day business of the executive governm ...

, delivered the keynote address of his visit to the UK at a ceremony to open the building in October 2005. After Klaus's address, the Princess Royal unveiled a stone to mark the formal opening, on the occasion of the school's 90th anniversary. The building was designed by the architects Short and Associates. The design aims to be "environmentally friendly" not simply with solar panels, but by facilitating the draught of cool air round the building, to avoid a need for air conditioning or other energy-using solutions – a first for the "central London heat island".

Notable alumni and staff

File:Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk cph.3a46477.jpg,

Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist, and philosopher. Until 1914, he advocated restructuring the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a federal state. With the help of t ...

File:Ruzomberok Robert William SETON WATSON.jpg, R. W. Seton-Watson File:Robert Conquest (cropped).jpg, Robert Conquest File:Norman Davies 2018.jpg,

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor at ...

File:Robert Fico 2017.jpg, Robert Fico File:Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (nov 2013) (cropped).JPG, Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu File:Jacek Rostowski-World Economic Forum Meeting 2009.jpg,

Jacek Rostowski Jan Anthony Vincent-Rostowski, also known as Jacek Rostowski (; born 30 April 1951, London), is a Polish-British economist and politician who served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland. He was a candidate ...

File:JonathanRoss.jpg,

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

* Acija Alfirević, academic and writer * Anthony Bailey (BA Eastern and Central European Studies, 1991), interfaith campaigner * Robin Baker (BA), former

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

Canterbury Christ Church University , mottoeng = The truth shall set you free , established = 2005 – gained University status 1962 – teacher training college , type = Public , religious_affiliation = Church of England , city ...

* George Bolsover (Director of SSEES, 1947–1976) * Michael Branch (BA; PhD, 1967; Director of SSEES, 1980–2001) *

Jamie Bulloch Jamie Bulloch (born 6 September 1969) is a British historian and translator of German literature. Life and work Jamie was born at East Dulwich Hospital in 1969. He grew up in Tooting, south-west London, attending first Rosemead School, then Whi ...

(MA, Central and East European History, 1993; PhD, 2002), literary translator * Sir Roger Carrick (Bulgarian, 1962), diplomat and former UK High Commissioner to Australia * Robert Conquest (Bulgarian, 1943), historian and poet *

(lecturer then Professor of History, 1971–1996) * Peter J. S. Duncan (Honorary Associate Professor of Russian Politics) * Robert Fico (Masaryk scholarship), former Prime Minister of Slovakia * Robert I. Frost (PhD History), historian * Julian Graffy (Emeritus Professor of Russian Literature and Cinema, and founder of SSEES's Bain-Graffy Film Collection) *

Titus Hjelm Titus Hjelm (born 15 October 1974) is an academic and musician from Helsinki, Finland. Academics Hjelm is a Doctor of Theology and an Associate Professor in the Study of Religion at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Previously he was a Reader ...

(lecturer in Finnish Studies), member of the power metal band Thunderstone * Sir Robert Hodgson (Chair of SSEES Council, 1943–1945), diplomat *

Clare Hollingworth Clare Hollingworth (10 October 1911 – 10 January 2017) was an English journalist and author. She was the first war correspondent to report the outbreak of World War II, described as "the scoop of the century". As a rookie reporter for ''The ...

(Croatian), journalist * Geoffrey Hosking (Chair and Leverhulme Research Professor of Russian History, 1984–2007), academic and co-founder of ''Nightline'' * Lindsey Hughes (Reader then Professor of Russian History, 1987–2007) *

Andres Kasekamp Andres Ilmar Kasekamp (born 7 December 1966 in Toronto) is the director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute ( :et) (since 2000) and Professor of Baltic Politics at the University of Tartu, Estonia (since 2004). Andres Kasekamp served as cha ...

(PhD History, 1996), Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute and Professor of Baltic Politics at the University of Tartu * David Kirby (former Professor of Modern European History), historian of the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

Ivo Lapenna Ivo Lapenna (5 November 1909 in Split 15 December 1987 in Copenhagen) was a Yugoslav-Dalmatian Italian law professor. Lapenna was a noted Esperanto speaker and served as the President of the World Esperanto Association between 1964 and 1974. ...

(Reader in Soviet Law, c. 1964 onwards), former

President of the World Esperanto Association The President of the Universal Esperanto Association ( eo, Universala Esperanto-Asocio, UEA) is the elected leader of the Universal Esperanto Association and the chief executive of the UEA steering committee (''Estraro''). History Prior to 1920 ...

and academic lawyer *

Alena Ledeneva Alena Valeryevna Ledeneva (Russian: Алёна Валерьевна Леденёва; born May 1964) is Professor of Politics and Society at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University College London (UCL). She is kno ...

(current Professor of Politics and Society) * Stephen Lovell (MA, PhD), academic *

Clarence Manning Clarence Augustus Manning (April 1, 1893 – October 4, 1972) was an American slavicist. He worked for 43 years at the Columbia University in New York, eventually being appointed chairman of the Department of Slavic Studies. He published a number of ...

(staff), academic and

Slavicist Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was prim ...

(Inaugurated SSEES, Professor of Slavic Research), first President of Czechoslovakia *

Margaret Stevenson Miller Margaret Stevenson Miller (1896 – 1979) was a British lecturer and researcher, who campaigned for women's rights. She began her studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she was the first ever graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce degre ...

(PhD), academic and women's rights campaigner *

Roger Moorhouse Roger Moorhouse (born 1968) is a British historian and author. Education He was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England and attended Berkhamsted School and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the University of London, graduating wit ...

(MA History and Politics, 1994), author and historian * Atukwei Okai (MPhil, 1971), Ghanaian poet, cultural activist and academic * Sir Bernard Pares (first Director of SSEES, Professor of Russian Language, Literature and History, 1919-1939) * László Péter (lecturer then Chair of Hungarian history, 1963–1994) * Martyn Rady (current

Masaryk Masaryk is a Czech surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alice Masaryk (1879–1966), Czech sociologist and one of the founding members of the Czechoslovak Red Cross, the daughter of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk * Charlotte Garrigue Mas ...

Professor of Central European History) * Sir John Randall (BA Serbo-Croatian language and literature, 1979), former Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Commons *

Anna Reid Anna Reid (born 1965) is an English journalist and author whose work focuses primarily on the history of Eastern Europe. Early life Reid read law at Oxford University and studied Russian History at the University College London School of Slavoni ...

(History), historian, journalist and author *

(BSc, MA, 1973, then lecturer, 1988–95) former

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and Deputy Prime Minister of Poland *

(Modern European History), UK TV presenter * Andrew Rothstein (lecturer in Russian and Soviet History, 1946–1950), journalist and founding member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

* Mike Sarne (BA), actor, film director and singer of the 1962 UK number one song, "Come Outside" * Edward Schofield,

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

György Schöpflin György Schöpflin (also known as George Schöpflin) (24 November 1939 – 19 November 2021) was a Hungarian politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Hungary. He was a member of Fidesz, part of the European People's ...

(former

Jean Monnet Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (; 9 November 1888 – 16 March 1979) was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, administrator, and political visionary. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered one of the ...

Professor of Politics), Hungarian

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

* Robert Service (former lecturer in Russian History), historian and author *

Hugh Seton-Watson George Hugh Nicolas Seton-Watson, CBE, FBA (15 February 1916 – 19 December 1984) was a British historian and political scientist specialising in Russia. Early life Seton-Watson was one of the two sons of Robert William Seton-Watson, the act ...

(Chair of Russian History, 1951–1983) * R. W. Seton-Watson (founder of SSEES, Masaryk Professor of Central European History, 1922–45), political activist and historian *

Robin Shepherd Robin Shepherd (born 6 January 1968) is a British-born political commentator and analyst. Formerly a senior fellow, running the Europe programme, at Chatham House (''The Royal Institute of International Affairs'') in London, he has also held fel ...

, political commentator *

Nick Taussig Nick Taussig (; born 26 March 1973) is a British author and film producer. In his writing he is known for exploring themes of personal freedom, identity, truth and moral transgression in works such as ''Love and Mayhem'' (2005), ''Don Don'' (200 ...

(MA in Russian Literature), author and film producer * Trevor Thomas (former lecturer in Czech and Slovak History) * Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (former teaching fellow), former

Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was s ...

and * Doreen Warriner (development economist)

References

External links

Official site
{{Coord, 51.5254, N, 0.1316, W, source:wikidata, display=title 1915 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1915 Former colleges of the University of London