| Founded in London England December 2, 1823 as the London Mechanics' Institution, Birkbeck College was incorporated into the University of London by Royal Charter in 1920. In addition to offering a full time postgraduate program Birkbeck specialises in fulfilling the needs of part time and mature students. Birkbeck places a special emphasis on developing courses of an interdisciplinary nature and is also noted for excellence in research and for excellence in the fields of Psychology, Crystallography, History, Law, Economics, French, History and Philosophy.
Founder, and champion of popular education, George Birkbeck intended the institution to be a school for the masses, and as such it was very sucessful. Not all were pleased with this egalitarian approach however and some members of the establishment accused Birkbeck of "scattering the seeds of evil."
To further the goal of equal access seven years after its founding the college admitted women students to lectures, but not full membership. Despite the lack of full parity, in 1830 this was seen as a revolutionary act. Many women of note such as Rosalind Franklin and suffragette Millicent Fawcett have lectured or researched at the college. Today Birkbeck has twice the national average of women professors.
You can reach the college at 020 7631 6000 or www.bbk.ac.uk
The College consists of: four academic Faculties, containing a total of 17 Schools and 17 Research Centres; 11 administrative Departments.
- FACULTY OF ARTS
- Schools in the Faculty of Arts:
- School of English and Humanities
- School of History, Classics and Archaeology
- School of History of Art, Film and Visual Media
- School of Languages, Linguistics and Culture
- School of Law
- School of Philosophy
- School of Politics and Sociology
- Research Centres:
- Centre for Canadian Studies
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Culture and the Humanities
- Centre for Interlanguage Studies
- Centre for Nineteenth Century Studies
- Dialogues in History, Classics and Archaeology Research Centre
- Public Policy Centre
- Vasari Research Institute
- FACULTY OF SCIENCE
- Schools in the Faculty of Science:
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
- School of Crystallography
- School of Earth Sciences
- School of Psychology
- Research Centres with which the Faculty is Associated:
- BBSRC Centre for Structural Biology
- Centre for Analytical Science
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
- Centre for Psychosocial Studies
- Child and Family Studies Group
- Human Performance Group
- Research Centre in Art Investigation
- Theoretical Physics Research Unit
- FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
- Schools in the Faculty of Social Sciences:
- School of Computer Science and Information Systems
- School of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics
- School of Geography
- School of Management and Organizational Psychology
- Research Centres:
- Bloomsbury Institute for the Natural Environment
- Centre for Pensions and Social Insurance
- The Football Research Unit
- Institute for Financial Research
- South East Regional Research Laboratory
- The Pensions Institute
- FACULTY OF CONTINUING EDUCATION
- School of Arts and Cultural Studies
- School of Social and Natural Sciences
- Research Centres:
- Centre for European Protected Areas Research
- Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion
Note: Much of the information in this article was gleaned from the Birkbeck College website. | 
