UCL Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences
Encyclopedia
The UCL Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences is one of the 10 constituent faculties of University College London
(UCL).
The current Dean is Professor Stephen Smith.
, establishing the first Department of Economics in England
. The first holder of the Chair was John Ramsay McCulloch
. In 1833 Alexander Maconochie
was appointed as Professor of Geography at UCL, the first such appointment in the British Isles. In 1853 Gottfried Kinkel
gave a series of lectures on medieval art at UCL. William Stanley Jevons
held a professorship of economics at UCL between 1876 and 1880.
became the first holder of the UCL Chair in History of Art, a post he held until his death in 1948. He was succeeded by Rudolf Wittkower
from 1948 to 1956 and Ernst Gombrich
from 1956 to 1959. Ronald Fisher
was Professor of Eugenics at UCL between 1933 and 1939. Ian Christie
was a Reader of History from 1960 to 1966, Professor of History from 1966 to 1979, Chairman of the History Department from 1975 to 1979 and Astor Professor of British History from 1979 to 1984. Between 1962 and 1972 Peter Ucko
was Lecturer in Anthropology at UCL. Sir Robert Rees Davies
was a lecturer in the Department of History between 1963 and 1976. UCL merged with the Institute of Archaeology in 1986. The Constitution Unit
was established in April 1995. The School of Slavonic and East European Studies merged with UCL in 1999.
was a Professor of Russian History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. In May 2009 a major report on the health risks posed by global warming
co-authored by Professor Mark Maslin, the director of the Environment Institute, was published. In January 2010 Simon Corcoran
and Benet Salway
of the History Department discovered fragments of the Gregorian Codex
, an important Roman law
code that previously had been thought lost forever.
The Faculty is closely involved with the following research centres and institutes:
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
(UCL).
The current Dean is Professor Stephen Smith.
19th century
The Chair of Political Economy at UCL was created in 1827 in memory of David RicardoDavid Ricardo
David Ricardo was an English political economist, often credited with systematising economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill. He was also a member of Parliament, businessman, financier and speculator,...
, establishing the first Department of Economics in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The first holder of the Chair was John Ramsay McCulloch
John Ramsay McCulloch
John Ramsey McCulloch , a Scottish economist, author and editor, is widely regarded as the leader of the Ricardian school of economists after the death of David Ricardo in 1823. He was appointed the first professor of political economy at University College London in 1828...
. In 1833 Alexander Maconochie
Alexander Maconochie (penal reformer)
Alexander Maconochie was a Scottish naval officer, geographer, and penal reformer.- Early life :Maconochie was born in Edinburgh on 11 February 1787. He joined the Royal Navy in 1803 and as a midshipman he saw active service in the Napoleonic Wars and was a prisoner of war from 1811 to 1814...
was appointed as Professor of Geography at UCL, the first such appointment in the British Isles. In 1853 Gottfried Kinkel
Gottfried Kinkel
Johann Gottfried Kinkel was a German poet also noted for his revolutionary activities and his escape from a Prussian prison in Spandau with the help of his friend Carl Schurz.-Early life:...
gave a series of lectures on medieval art at UCL. William Stanley Jevons
William Stanley Jevons
William Stanley Jevons was a British economist and logician.Irving Fisher described his book The Theory of Political Economy as beginning the mathematical method in economics. It made the case that economics as a science concerned with quantities is necessarily mathematical...
held a professorship of economics at UCL between 1876 and 1880.
20th century
In 1922 Tancred BoreniusTancred Borenius
Carl Tancred Borenius was a Finnish art historian working in England, who became the first professor of the history of art at University College London...
became the first holder of the UCL Chair in History of Art, a post he held until his death in 1948. He was succeeded by Rudolf Wittkower
Rudolf Wittkower
Rudolf Wittkower was a German art historian.-Biography:He was born in Berlin and moved to London in 1934. He taught at the Warburg Institute, University of London from 1934 to 1956 and then at Columbia University from 1956 to 1969 where he was chairman of the Department of Art History and...
from 1948 to 1956 and Ernst Gombrich
Ernst Gombrich
Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich, OM, CBE was an Austrian-born art historian who became naturalized British citizen in 1947. He spent most of his working life in the United Kingdom...
from 1956 to 1959. Ronald Fisher
Ronald Fisher
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher FRS was an English statistician, evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and geneticist. Among other things, Fisher is well known for his contributions to statistics by creating Fisher's exact test and Fisher's equation...
was Professor of Eugenics at UCL between 1933 and 1939. Ian Christie
I. R. Christie
Ian Ralph Christie was a British historian specialising in late 18th-century Britain...
was a Reader of History from 1960 to 1966, Professor of History from 1966 to 1979, Chairman of the History Department from 1975 to 1979 and Astor Professor of British History from 1979 to 1984. Between 1962 and 1972 Peter Ucko
Peter Ucko
Peter John Ucko FRAI FSA was an influential English archaeologist, noted for being the Professor Emeritus of Comparative Archaeology and also the former Executive Director of University College London's Institute of Archaeology. He was also noted for his organisation of the first World...
was Lecturer in Anthropology at UCL. Sir Robert Rees Davies
Rees Davies
Sir Robert Rees Davies CBE , was a noted Welsh historian.He was born in Merionethshire, and educated at Bala grammar school. He was bilingual in Welsh and English. He received a First in his degree from University College, London, where he later returned as a lecturer...
was a lecturer in the Department of History between 1963 and 1976. UCL merged with the Institute of Archaeology in 1986. The Constitution Unit
The Constitution Unit
The Constitution Unit is a UK based think tank that specialises in constitutional affairs and comparative constitutional studies. Founded in 1995 by Robert Hazell CBE , it is now based within the Department of Political Science at University College London.The Constitution Unit has done research on...
was established in April 1995. The School of Slavonic and East European Studies merged with UCL in 1999.
21st century
In May 2003 a team from the Department of Anthropology published a major piece of research on the possible link between the amount of food that a mother has to eat and the gender of her children. In May 2006 a report co-authored by Professor James Banks of the Department of Economics was published which concluded that rates of diseases such as diabetes, lung cancer and high-blood pressure were up to twice as high among Americans aged between 55 and 64 as among English people of the same age group. Between 1997 and 2007 Lindsey HughesLindsey Hughes
Lindsey Hughes was a British historian who studied seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Russia, especially the reign of Peter the Great. She authored biographies of Peter and his predecessor Sophia Alekseyevna, as well as a more general work, Russia in the Age of Peter the Great...
was a Professor of Russian History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. In May 2009 a major report on the health risks posed by global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
co-authored by Professor Mark Maslin, the director of the Environment Institute, was published. In January 2010 Simon Corcoran
Simon Corcoran
Simon Corcoran is an ancient historian and senior research fellow at University College, London. He received his D.Phil from St. John's College, Oxford in 1992...
and Benet Salway
Benet Salway
Richard William Benet Salway is an ancient historian at University College London. His areas of speciality include later Roman history, Greek and Roman epigraphy and onomastics, Roman law, and travel and geography in the Graeco-Roman world.-Biography:...
of the History Department discovered fragments of the Gregorian Codex
Codex Gregorianus
The Codex Gregorianus or Gregorian Code is the title of a collection of constitutions of Roman emperors over a century and a half from the 130s to 290s AD.-History:thumb|Modern bust of Diocletian in his palace at Split, Croatia....
, an important Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
code that previously had been thought lost forever.
Departments
The Faculty currently comprises the following departments:- UCL Department of Anthropology
- UCL Institute of Archaeology
- UCL Department of Economics
- UCL Department of Geography
- UCL History Department
- Department of History at UCL SSEES
- UCL History of Art Department
- UCL Department of Political Science
- Department of Social Sciences at UCL SSEES
Research
- AHRC Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity
- Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis
- Centre for Applied Archaeology
- Centre for Ecology and Evolution
- Centre for the Economics of Education
- Centre for Economic Research on Ageing
- Centre for the Evaluation of Development Policies
- Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice
- Centre for Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy
- Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration
- Centre for Transnational History
- Climate & Water Research Unit
- Coastal & Estuarine Research Unit
- The Constitution UnitThe Constitution UnitThe Constitution Unit is a UK based think tank that specialises in constitutional affairs and comparative constitutional studies. Founded in 1995 by Robert Hazell CBE , it is now based within the Department of Political Science at University College London.The Constitution Unit has done research on...
- Environmental Change Research Centre
- Environment Institute
- ESRC Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution
- Global Denim Project
- International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology
- Urban Laboratory
See also
- London School of EconomicsLondon School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
- School of Advanced StudySchool of Advanced StudyThe School of Advanced Study, a postgraduate institution of the University of London, is the UK's national centre for the promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities and social sciences...
- School of Oriental and African StudiesSchool of Oriental and African StudiesThe School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...