London School of Economics
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The London School of Economics and Political Science, more commonly referred to as The London School of Economics or LSE, was founded in 1895, and officially joined the University of London in 1900 as the Faculty of Economics. Today is is a specialist single-faculty constituent college of the University, the only such institution in Britain. Located on Houghton Street in Westminster, off the Aldwych and next to the Royal Courts of Justice and Temple Bar, it describes itself as 'the world‘s leading social science institution for teaching and research'.[2]
The School is a member of the elite Russell Group[3], the European University Association, Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Community of European Management Schools and International Companies, The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs and Universities UK as well as the Golden Triangle of British Universities, and most recently the secretive 'super-elite' 'G5 Group' of Britain's five leading universities. In 2006, the LSE joined the 'U8' group, a worldwide student network of universities, linking universities from across the world.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the London School of Economics, along with UCL, King's College London and Imperial College London, all 'have international reputations that in this country only Oxbridge can beat'.[4]
[edit] History
The London School of Economics was founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas, and George Bernard Shaw, with funding provided by private philanthropy, including a bequest of £20,000 from Henry Hunt Hutchinson to the Fabian Society. All believed in advancing socialist causes by reformist rather than revolutionary means, and the LSE was established to further the Fabian aim of bettering society, focusing on research on issues of poverty, inequality and related issues. This led the Fabians, and the LSE, to be one of the main influences on the UK Labour Party.[3]
The school was founded with the initial intention of renewing the training of Britain's political and business elite, which seemed to be faltering due to inadequate teaching and research - the number of postgraduate students was dwarfed by those in other countries. A year before the founding, the British Association for the Advancement of Science pushed for the need to advance the systematic study of social sciences as well. In fact, Sidney and Beatrice Webb used the curriculum of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (best known as Sciences Po), which covered the full-range of the social sciences, as part of their inspiration for molding the LSE's educational purpose. LSE was opened in October 1895 at No. 9 John Street, Adelphi.
The school expanded rapidly and was moved along with its newly established library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science to No. 10 Adelphi Terrace in September 1896, continuing to expand through the next couple of years. In 1900, the School became officially recognised as a Faculty of Economics within the much larger University of London in Bloomsbury, and became enrolling students for bachelor degrees and doctorates in the same year. At the same time, the LSE began expanding into other areas of social sciences, including, initially, geography (in 1902) and philosophy (in 1903), and then international relations, history, law, psychology and sociology. By 1902, it was apparent the School had and would continue to outgrow its Adelphi Terrace location, and moved to its present campus on the Aldwych and aside Kingsway - not far from Whitehall, in 1902. The Old Building, which remains a significant office and classroom building, was opened on Houghton Street in 1922.
During these years and under the directorship of William Beveridge, future father of the welfare state and the National Health Service, LSE redefined the study of economics and the new conception of the study of economics as "a science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses" is looked to as the norm. LSE in this sense must be looked at as the father of modern economics studies. Under Beveridge, Friedrich Hayek was appointed as a professor and he brought about the ascendancy of the LSE through his famous debates with John Maynard Keynes. The famed Keynes-Hayek debates which occurred between Cambridge and the LSE still shapes the two major schools of economic thought today as nations still debate the merits of the welfare state versus an economy solely controlled by the market. LSE's influence upon modern economics is undeniable since it both formed the very basis for economic thought as well as shaped modern perception of free market economics. Hayek's works continue to influence the study of economics across the globe. At the other extreme, during these years Harold Joseph Laski, a professor of political science at the LSE was influential in British politics as an advocate of far left policies. Many renowned world leaders including John F. Kennedy studied under his guidance at the LSE.
While the LSE's initial reputation was that of a socialist-leaning institution, this had changed by the 1960s, with LSE Director Walter Adams fighting hard to remove LSE from its Fabian roots. This led to many student protests, which also involved Lionel Robbins, who had returned to LSE as chairman of governors, having been a member of staff for many years.
Anthony Giddens, the former director of the LSE, stands as the creator of the 'Third Way' followed by both Tony Blair (who unveiled the Fabian Window at LSE in 2005) and Bill Clinton. His policy created a balance between the traditional welfare state and the belief in total free market economics. This policy is being put into effect by governments all across the world as free market economies continue to deal with wealth inequalities and bettering the welfare of the general population.
[edit] Current activity
The current Director of the school, Sir Howard Davies, was formerly Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, Controller of the Audit Commission, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. Following his first term in office, he has been reappointed as of June 2007, and will serve until 2013.
An article by The Guardian describes the LSE's influence when it states that "Once again the political clout of the school, which seems to be closely wired into parliament, Whitehall and the Bank of England, is being felt by ministers." [4]. "The strength of the LSE is that it is close to the political process: Mervyn King, was a former LSE professor. The chairman of the House of Commons education committee, Barry Sheerman, sits on its board of governors, along with Labour peer Lord (Frank) Judd. Also on the board are Tory MPs Virginia Bottomley and Richard Shepherd, as well as Lord Saatchi and Lady Howe." The top 10 employers of LSE graduates are principally accounting, investment banking, and law firms [5].
The Times' recent profile of LSE commented There are many who have achieved in the world of politics, business or academia who can trace their success to the years they spent at the LSE. Inspired by tuition from academics who are often familiar faces, if not household names, LSE students take their first steps to greatness in the debating chambers, cafes, bars – and even occasionally in their seminar groups – during three or four years of studying. [6]
Over the years the LSE has continued to expand around Houghton Street. Under a recent fund-raising scheme, called the "Campaign for the LSE", which is seeking to raise £100 million, the LSE has purchased the former Public Trustee building at 24 Kingsway. This has been redeveloped into a ultra-modern educational building, to be known as the "New Academic Building" at a total cost of over £45 million, and has increased the campus space by 120,000 square feet. To date, just over £99.5 million has been raised under the scheme including funds for various new scholarships. The aim of reaching £100 million is expected to be met by the end of November 2007 at the latest [7].
[edit] Programmes and admission
The LSE is a single faculty institution, dedicated solely to the study and research of social sciences, and is the only university in the United Kingdom to do so. The School offers over 120 MSc programmes, 2 MPA programmes, an LLM, 30 BSc programmes, an LLB and 2 BA programmes (International History and Geography)[5]. Courses are taught in over thirty research centres and twenty-one departments.
Among the many research institutes are The Development Studies Institute, the European Institute, the Gender Institute, Information Systems, Mannheim Centre for Criminology & Criminal Justice, Communications, Operational Research.
Since these programmes are all within the social sciences they closely resemble one other and students often take courses in other departments. Many engage in a practice known as "auditing," where students attend lectures by professors whose classes they are not formally enrolled in. The intake sizes of many of the masters programmes are unusually large for this level, and some cohorts contain well in excess of 100 students. At undergraduate level however, some departments consist a maximum of 90 students across three years of study, ensuring small lectures and class sizes.
There is fierce competition for entry to the LSE, with approximately seventeen applicants for every available place at undergraduate level, making it the most competitive university in the UK for undergraduate admissions [8]. Some courses, including law and economics are significantly higher than this, and in 2007 the approximate UCAS entry points were 476 (equivalent to AAAA at A-Level). It is one of only three university institutions in Britain who never enter the UCAS clearing system in August, the other two being Oxford and Cambridge.
The LSE has come under fire, alongside other top British universities for its apparently high acceptance rates of students from British independent schools. Whilst this claim continues to be bounced around by the British media, a report published in 2006 by the Independent Schools Council, the governing body of all British independent schools would suggest that in fact students from private schools have only a 29.69% chance of gaining a place at the LSE - the lowest acceptant rate of any Russell Group institution.[9]
Entrance standards are also high for postgraduate students (particularly for those seeking external funding), who are usually expected to have (for taught Master's courses) a First Class or Upper Second Class UK honours degree, or its overseas equivalent [10].
The process of postgraduate admissions to the LSE is conducted on a rolling basis, as opposed to a deadline system. Applications are accepted from mid-October and the evaluation process begins in mid-November. Applications are considered as they "roll in" and the candidate can receive one of three outcomes; successful (acceptance), unsuccessful (rejection), or conditional (placement on a waiting-list/interim decision). The admissions process continues without any set deadline until all available places have been allocated. This process does give a higher probability of acceptance for early applications over late ones. The consideration process ends once the places have been allocated, meaning that all applications in queue for consideration are returned with the notification that since the programme is full, neither an acceptance nor rejection can be given. The applications success rate for programmes vary by their size, although most of the major courses have an intake of approximately 5%-10% of applicants[11]. As part of the admissions process, LSE admissions officers often meet with prospective candidates at university fairs. Plans are afoot to increase the number of places offered, by expansion allowed by the purchase of additional faculty buildings [12]
LSE also offers the TRIUM Global Executive MBA programme jointly with Stern School of Business of NYU and HEC School of Management, Paris. It is divided into six modules held in five international business locations over a 16-month period. Whitefield Consulting Worldwide, a global MBA consultancy, has ranked the TRIUM Executive MBA programme as second worldwide. The Financial Times' most recent rankings (2007) of executive MBA programmes also placed TRIUM as second worldwide. [13]
The LSE Summer School was established in 1989 and has expanded extensively with more than 3,000 participants in 2006, a similar number to the university's full-time undergraduate programme. The Summer School offers over 50 subjects based on regular undergraduate courses at the LSE from the Accounting, Finance, Law, International Relations and Management departments, and takes place over two sessions of three weeks each, in July and August each year. LSE also offers the LSE-PKU Summer School in collaboration with Peking University. Courses from both Summer Schools can be used as credit against other qualifications, and some courses can be taken as part of a conditional offer for LSE Masters programmes. In 2007 the Summer School accepted students from over 100 countries, including from some of the top colleges and universities in the world, as well as professionals from several national banks and major financial institutions. As well as the courses, accommodation in LSE halls of residence is available, and the Summer School provides a full social programme including guest lectures, receptions and the Crush! nightclub. The Summer School expects to expand further in the future, particularly with the LSE's acquisition of the New Academic Building.[14]
[edit] Student body
There are nearly 7,800 full-time students and around 800 part-time students at the university. Of these, 34% come from the United Kingdom, 18% from other European Union countries, and 48% from more than 130 other countries making it the most international academic institution in the world. [15]. As of September 2007, this figure has risen to 75% international students[16]
The LSE is unique in British universities in that almost 58% of students are postgraduates [17], an unusually high proportion in comparison with other British institutions, meaning that undergraduates are in the minority. Postgraduates are divided between Taught-Masters (MSc, MPA, LLM) and Research students (MPhil, PhD). There is approximately an equal split between genders with 51% male and 49% female students. [18]
[edit] Students' Union
The LSE has its own Students' Union, the LSESU, which is affiliated with the National Union of Students and the National Postgraduate Committee as well as University of London Union. It is based in the East Building, and is centred around The Quad, a multi-purpose venue, used during the day as a social meeting place, and nightly as a club and live gig venue. The SU is often regarded as the most politically active in Britain - a reputation it has held since the well documented LSE student riots in 1966-67 and 1968-69[6] [7], which made international headlines, and its links with the political, economic and business world give it great influence to debate and rally on major issues, both campus related and internationally.
The LSE is the only university in the country which retains a weekly Union General Meeting, as opposed to an annual gathering, where motions are discussed and debated. This largely stems back to the LSE’s radical past in the 1960s, but has been upheld today, and meetings are well known to get heated, almost violent at some points. It is not uncommon for paper (and even other objects) to be thrown onto the stage of the Old Theatre whilst students debate and discuss motions. Recent activity, including the linking with a Palestinian university has been met with much debate amongst the student cohort, especially in the wording of a letter sent from the General Secretary to Freshers at the beginning of the 2007 academic session. Regular meetings are also held with the School’s Director, and the heads of both ULU and the NUS. Elections are held in November and May to elect new officers and sabbatical officers, of which there are four. These are the most well-attended in Britain, with LSE students taking their democratic view and opportunity extremely seriously, and there are strong campaigns by students each October and April prior to election day. The elections themselves are broadcast live throughout the night on both the School’s radio and television stations.
As part of the University of London, students at the LSE are also affiliated with the University of London Union (ULU) which is situated on Malet Street in Bloomsbury. This arrangement gives particular strength when debating issues that affect all London colleges, such as the campaign to extend the Student Oystercard scheme to daily travel, and also in the campaign for the future of Senate House – the University of London’s central headquarters at Russell Square. There has been recent protest at the election of Peter Sutherland, the former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, to Chair of the Court of Governors at LSE.
The Union is responsible for the organisation and undertaking of entertainment events and student societies on campus, of which more than 180 are currently enlisted catering to a wide variety of interests [8]There are over fifty national societies, reflecting LSE’s position as the most international higher education establishment on the planet. Additionally, there are societies reflecting the School’s background and interests including business, investment, banking, NGOs and government organisations, as well as countless political societies. The largest political party at the LSE as of October 2007, is the Green Party. Some have suggested that there is a lack of ‘fun’ societies and that LSE concentrates its societal budget on the intellectual and academic societal base. Crush!, a themed event held every Friday in the Union is the largest student night in the UK, and The Chuckle Club is nationally recognised in its field. Recently, the Union has been responsible for the hosting of the inaugural Freshers’ Ball in Leicester Square, raising funds for RAG (Raising and Giving), which aims to raise an annual fund to support charities and organisations across the world. In various forms the RAG Week has been operating since 1980, when it was started by then Student Union Entertainments Officer and now New Zealand MP Tim Barnett, RAG Week held every Lent Term involves a host of events from hikes to Paris, abseiling off the Old Building and skydiving all to raise money, whilst the Global Week – the biggest event of its kind in Europe, celebrates the diversity of LSE’s students every Summer Term.
A weekly student newspaper, The Beaver was founded in 1946, and as such is one of the oldest student publications in Britain. It has gained great clout in recent years, investigating campus, national and international issues and stories, including the issue of costly postgraduate degrees, student loans and examination pass rates. It has a weekly readership of approximately 5,000 and is distributed free across campus every Tuesday, as well as in Whitehall offices, and many City firms and corporations who take keen interest. Students also get access the The London Student, the largest student publication in Europe, which is published by the University of London. The Script, published termly, is a collection of literature and arts supplements and is available online also. Pulse! is the School’s own radio station, which was relaunched in October 2007 and broadcasts twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week on campus and online, as well as providing regular podcasts. The interview slot is popular with students, and recent interviewees have included Jacqui Smith, Mark Steel, Clare Short and Alan Fletcher. LooSE Television, which was incorporated in 2005, is the LSE’s own television station, responsible for filming and streaming public lectures, as well as publicity films, election results and other media.
The LSESU also runs and upkeeps the recently refurbished Three Tuns and Underground Bars on campus, as well as the Quad Café, Copy Shop, Three Tuns Kitchen, Alpha Books (a secondhand bookshop) and a coffee cart. Additional facilities available to students include a Natwest Bank on the corner of Houghton Street, and the Waterstones' Economists' Bookshop.
The LSE Athletics Union is the body responsible for all sporting activity within the university. It is a member of the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA). Sports teams are wide-ranging from football (where the School excels nationally) to fencing, aqua-hoc, polo, ultimate Frisbee and raquets. Particular rivalry is found with King's College London and also University College London. The Union operates the Natwest Gym in the Old Building, as well as squash courts, badminton courts, a gymnasium and tennis courts at the School’s central London location, with ownership of twenty-five acres of playing fields at Berrylands in south London, easily accessible by train and also by coaches which depart each day.
Students are permitted to use the facilities of other University of London colleges, and those of Energybase at ULU, comprising its own sports halls, courts, multigym and swimming pool. LSE’s cricketers use the indoor and outdoor facilities at Lord’s Cricket Ground year-round. The LSE has a particularly strong association, along with the University of London, in rowing, and has a boat house situated on the River Thames at Chiswick. In distinction to the ‘blues’ awarded for sporting excellence at Oxford and Cambridge, London’s outstanding athletes are awarded ‘purples’.
The current Union General Secretary for the 2007-08 academic session is Fadhil Bakeer Markar.
[edit] Campus life
The LSE moved to its present day central London campus in 1902 at Clare Market and Houghton Street. In 1920, King George V laid the foundation stone of the Old Building, the principal building of the LSE. The School has gradually increased its ownership of adjacent buildings creating an almost continuous campus between Kingsway and the Royal Courts of Justice. Today, the campus consists approximately thirty buildings, connections between which have been established on an ad-hoc basis with often confusing results. The floor levels of buildings do not always equate, leading to an individual being on a different "floor" after passing through a hallway. The campus also has a series of extension bridges between buildings created high on the upper floors to connect several buildings.
Currently, the School is about to complete work on the former Public Trust Building on Kingsway, which was purchased by the LSE in 2005. Opening in June 2008, the 'New Academic Building' as it is currently known, will become one of the most environmentally friendly university buildings in the UK. With an entrance overlooking Lincoln's Fields, the new space will dramatically increase the size of the campus, incorporating four new lecture theatres, the Departments of Management and Law, computer and study facilities, meeting places and a huge glass atrium in the centre of the building, as well as a roof terrace with spectacular views over Covent Garden and the Aldwych, and The City of London.
The British Library of Political and Economic Science (BLPES) is currently the world's largest library solely dedicated to the social sciences, containing over 4.7 million volumes on its shelves. This also makes it the second largest single entity library in Britain, after the British Library at King's Cross. [19] Other buildings of note include the Peacock Theatre, the School's main lecture theatre, seating 999 persons, which by night serves as the West End base of Sadler's Wells. The venue is a member of the Society of London Theatre, and has hosted many dance, musical and dramatic productions, as well as serving as the base for many of the LSE' public lectures and discussions.
The LSE is famous for its public lectures programme, organised by the LSE Events office which is open to students and alumni, as well as often members of the general public. These weekly lectures are regularly given by prominent national and international speakers including ambassadors, authors, CEOs, Members of Parliament, leading professors and heads of state. Recent speakers have included Jacqui Smith MP, Alan Greenspan, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Kofi Annan, Gerhard Schroeder, Costas Simitis, Nicholas Stern, Vincente Fox and Nelson Mandela.
[edit] Accommodation
The LSE owns ten residential accommodation facilities in and around central London - consisting of both dormitories and apartments. Students also may live in one of eight intercollegiate facilities shared with other constituent colleges of the University of London.
The LSE guarantees housing to all first-year undergraduate students, regardless of where their present address may be (i.e. - already living in London). Many postgraduates are also catered for, with specific accommodation set aside for their needs. None of the residences are at the Houghton Street campus - the closest is at Grosvenor House, within a five minute walk, while the farthest residences are forty-five minutes away by Tube or bus.
LSE accommodation is offered on a random basis within quotas set out for each hall. In each residence, there will be a mixture of students; home and overseas, male and female, undergraduate and postgraduate. New undergraduate students (including General Course students) will occupy about 36% of all spaces. Postgraduates take approximately 56% of spaces in LSE halls and continuing students about 8%.
One of the closest residences to the LSE campus (not more than 5 minutes walk), located on the eastern side of Drury Lane at the crossroads of Great Queen Street and Long Acre, is Grosvenor House, which opened in 2005. Grosvenor House is one of the latest additions to the LSE residences, offering single, twin/double studios as well as one bed flats. Two minutes from Covent Garden, Grosvenor House Studios is close to London's Theatreland. Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square are only a short walk away.
The School opened a new 360-bed student residence adjacent to Trafalgar Square. Planning permission was approved by Westminster City Council on 2 June 2005 and a fully refurbished Northumberland House was opened in October 2006.
Located in the heart of London between the Strand and Thames Embankment, Northumberland House is a Grade II listed building, (formerly a Victorian grand hotel and lately government offices). Northumberland House is a close to the main strip of the West End theatres and five minutes from Picadilly Circus, Leicster Square, Covent Garden and Oxford Circus.
There are also eight intercollegiate halls (Canterbury, College, Commonwealth, Connaught, Hughes-Parry, International, Lillian Penson and Nutford) which accommodate students from the LSE as well as the other colleges of the University of London. These halls provide the opportunity to live with a greater diversity of students across other University of London colleges. Approximately 20% of the School's first year undergraduates are accommodated in the intercollegiate halls.[20]
[edit] The British Library of Political and Economic Science (BLPES)
The British Library of Political and Economic Science is the LSE's main library, and the world's largest social science library. Since its foundation in 1896, it has been the national social sciences library of the United Kingdom and all its collections have been recognised for their outstanding national and international importance and awarded 'Designation' status by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). With the longest opening hours of any university library in Britain (24 hours), the BLPES responds to around 6,500 visits from students and staff each day. In addition, it provides a specialist international research collection, serving over 12,000 registered external users each year.
The Library collects material on a worldwide basis, in all major European languages. The extensive collections range from a European Documentation Centre to 90,000 historical pamphlets, with over 95% of Library stock available on open access. Over 50 km of shelving, enough to stretch the length of the Channel Tunnel, houses over four and a half million items including 31,000 past and present journal titles. The Library subscribes to approximately 15,000 e-journals, just part of its electronic information provision.
Unusually for an academic library, all materials are housed in a single site, the Lionel Robbins Building, named after the prestigious economist who studied, taught and later served as Chair of the Court of Governors of LSE.
The Lionel Robbins Building covers 20,000 square metres, and offers 1,700 study places, including 450 networked PCs and 226 laptop drop-in points. A light-filled atrium, named after Michael Peacock and impressive spiral stepped ramp culminate at the top in a partially glazed dome which has been precisely angled to maximise daylight with minimal solar glare. A reflecting panel on the roof also helps to direct sunlight to the floors below. The dome and other windows respond automatically according to the temperature in the building; ventilating it naturally. The fourth and fifth floors are home to the LSE Research Lab, an internationally funded resource, bringing together scientists from across the world with the School’s leading research centres.
The building was commended in the 2002 Civic Trust Awards - given to outstanding examples of architecture and environmental design in major city areas of the UK, taking into account the benefit each project brings to its local area as well as the quality of its design. Despite this the design has various problems. Many students claim that the main circular stairwell is inefficient and cumbersome to use; that the overall design that does not make full use of all the available space and that the open plan environment is prone to noise. Nevertheless, the library remains the most popular place to study on campus. This is good, as LSE students are also unusually heavy users of their campus library with borrowing rates four times the national average (approx. 350 books per year)[21] </div>
The Library is also home to a number of national and regional initiatives, including the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences which has been indexing social science literature since the 1950s. [22] Since 1946 the Library has been a United Nations depository library, providing a comprehensive collection of UN publications and documents. Many other organisations are also significantly represented, including OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), ILO (International labour Organization), OAS (Organization of American States) and GATT/WTO (General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade / World Trade Organization). As a European Documentation Centre, the Library has received publications from the European Community since 1964.
The Shaw Library contains the university's collection of general fiction and other readings for leisure and entertainment. It is housed in an impressive room in the Old Building, where the Fabian Window is also on display. Additionally, students are permitted to use the libraries of any other University of London college, and the extensive facilities at Senate House Library, situated in Russell Square.
[edit] Academic Reputation
LSE is the largest recipient of research funding for the social sciences in the UK.[citation needed] In the latest national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2001), all of LSE's academic departments earned the top three ratings for research, with scores of 4, 5 and 5*. In two of the three major league tables for British universities (The Times and Sunday Times), the LSE is ranked second in the strength of its research ratings [23][24], behind Cambridge[25]. Additionally, the LSE submitted 97% of academic staff for assessment, more than any other university [26].
The LSE has been ranked the third best university in the country by both the 2006 and 2007 Sunday Times Good University Guide [27]. Additionally, it was ranked 3rd overall in the Sunday Times University Guide's cumulative table over ten years of study (1997-2007)[28].
In the 2007 Good University Guide, LSE was ranked fourth overall [29] . For individual subjects, it came 1st in the UK for Accounting and Finance, Economics, Geography and Social Policy; 2nd for Anthropology, Business Studies and Politics; 4th for History and Philosophy; 5th for Law; 7th for Sociology and 8th for Mathematics.
In the 2007 THES - QS World University Rankings[9], LSE was ranked "3rd in the world" after Harvard and Berkeley for the social sciences (3rd in 2006, 2nd in 2005 and 2004), and "26th in the world" for arts and humanities (19th in 2006, 9th in 2005, 10th in 2004),
In 2007, the MSc Management programme was ranked 2nd in the world by the Financial Times' European Masters Ranking (8th in 2006, 4th in 2005) [30]and the TRIUM Executive MBA offered in conjunction with New York University's Stern School of Business and HEC Paris was ranked 2nd in the world by the 2007 Financial Times EMBA Ranking[31].
Furthermore, the LSE's Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method is highly renowned, which is mirrored in the rankings of Blackwell's Philosophical Gourmet Report. It is ranked 1st in the world for philosophy of social science and joint 2nd in the world for philosophy of science, as well as joint 3rd for 'Decision, Rational Choice, and Game Theory'.
[edit] League Table Rankings
| 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times Good University Guide | 4th[10] | 4th[11] | 4th[12] | |
| Guardian University Guide | 6th[13] | 3rd[14] | 5th[15] | |
| Sunday Times University Guide | 3rd[16] | 3rd[17] | 4th[17] | |
| Daily Telegraph | 4th[18] |
| 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| THES - QS World University Rankings | 59th[19] | 17th[20] | 11th[21] |
| Academic Ranking of World Universities | 151-202[22] | 202-300[23] | 203-300[24] |
[edit] Economic contribution and history
[edit] LSE vs. Cambridge
| The neutrality and factual accuracy of this article are disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. This article has been tagged since December 2007. |
The 1930s economic debate between LSE and Cambridge is well-known in academic circles. Rivalry between academic opinion at LSE and Cambridge goes back to the School's roots when LSE's Edwin Cannan (1861-1935), Professor of Economics, and Cambridge's Professor of Political Economy, Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), the leading economist of the day, argued about the bedrock matter of economics and whether the subject should be considered as an organic whole. (Marshall disapproved of LSE's separate listing of pure theory and its insistence on economic history.)
The dispute also concerned the question of the economist's role, and whether this should be as a detached expert or a practical adviser. For LSE and the historical economists, economic theory's application was of greater significance than economic theory itself.[neutrality disputed] LSE and Cambridge economists worked jointly in the 1920s - for example, the London and Cambridge Economic Service - but the 1930s brought a return to the dispute as LSE and Cambridge argued over the solution to the economic depression.
LSE's Robbins and von Hayek, and Cambridge's Keynes were chief figures in the intellectual disagreement between the institutions. The controversy widened from deflation versus demand management as a solution to the economic problems of the day, to broader conceptions of economics and macroeconomics. Robbins and von Hayek's views were based on the Austrian School of Economics with its emphasis on free trade and anti-interventionism, an approach Robbins (but not Hayek) later acknowledged as inappropriate to the timing and circumstances of the 1930s economic depression.
Within the context of increased protectionism and "beggar thy neighbour" devaluation policies being implemented by all major economies, recovery was only possible with the early implementation of more Keynesian-like policies.
Keynes and Cambridge 's policies became standard practice in the 1930s onwards. With the growth of the influence of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics, however, many of the LSE's liberal ideas have influenced much of modern liberal economics.[citation needed]
The measure of the validity of von Hayek's argument is the growth of international free trade organisations and agreements such as those achieved in the GATT rounds (later to become the World Trade Organisation), which have as their goal the promotion of these policies in order to avoid the repetition of the globally sub-optimal reaction that took place in the 1930s, as advocated by Cambridge at the time. [32]
[edit] Impact on economics
Some of the most specific and important contributions to our understanding of economics made by the LSE can be found in the individuals and their work listed below, who lectured, researched or studied at the LSE. While most of these economists were eventual recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics for particular theories or works, listed below are the works which had the most impact on modern economic modeling and thought:
John Hicks, whose most famous contribution was the development of the Hicks-Hansen IS-LM model, now a standard macroeconomic Keynesian starting point for all University economists.
Friedrich von Hayek, the Nobel Prize winner for Economic Sciences in 1974, is one of the most eminent advocates of economic liberalism, his literature came to define much of economic policy in the UK and US following the ostensible influence of Hayek's economic philosophy on Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Implementation of his philosophy led to key economic developments, such as the reduction in unionisation, observed by Bean and Crafts as the primary cause of stagnation during the previous 25 years which for all other European nations had been a period of prosperity.[33] He also famously influenced the climate of free-market thinking behind the Iron-curtain that stimulated the collapse of communist Eastern Europe.[34]
James Meade won the prize for his groundbreaking work on trade theory.
William Arthur Lewis, developed the important Dual Model of the economy that would eventually prove the foundation of much of economic industrialisation theory, and formed the basis for Heywood's "revisionist" view on French industrialisation in comparison with Britain. Lewis also pioneered work into the importance of "terms of trade" in trade theory.
Merton Miller received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (jointly) in 1990 for pioneering work in the theory of financial economics.
Ronald Coase received the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 1991 for his discovery and clarification of the significance of transaction costs and property rights for the institutional structure and functioning of the economy.
Amartya Sen received the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 1993 for many contributions to development economics, including pioneering studies of gender inequality, and he always takes care to write "her" rather than "his" when referring to an abstract person. Sen chose to leave the LSE for Oxford; he was not permitted to teach his famous course on poverty within the Economics department.
Robert Mundell, the Nobel Prize winner for Economic Sciences in 1999, has mainly researched in the field of optimum currency area, and his work remains one of the pillars of analysis in the assessment of the effectiveness of a single currency. While political tests, such as those in place in the UK for the decision to join the Euro, bare little to no resemblance to the key OCA criteria contributed to by Mundell, economic theorists use the OCA criteria in literature as the most effective method of analysis for the success of a single currency.
The Mundell-Fleming model was also an effective extension of the IS-LM analysis to factor in the impact of international equilibrium, and is the basis of analysis over the relative merits of fixed or floating exchange rates.
George Akerlof, the Nobel Prize winner for Economic Sciences in 2001, is perhaps best known for his article, "The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism", published in Quarterly Journal of Economics in 1970, in which he identified the severe problems that may afflict markets characterized by asymmetrical information.
Also of note is the LSE economist A.W. Phillips, who, while never receiving a Nobel Prize for his work, made his most well-known contribution in the Phillips curve, which he first described in 1958. The Phillips Curve has proved instrumental in the further understanding of government economic policy regarding employment and inflation.
Beyond the great academic contributions, the general work of the university and its graduates continues to have a large impact on the field of economics. The IDEAS Economic Research Assessment January 2006 placed the London School of Economics and Political Science as the 3rd best University Economics research department in the world, and the best outside the US.
Yale University's 1999 analysis on the impact of Econometrics research, analysing the work of the best 100 Economics Ph. D graduates, from institutions across the globe, placed the LSE as 1st in the world, and as the only institution with over 2000 pages of published research to its graduates' names. [35]
The UK Research Assessment Exercise has rated the LSE Economics department as 5*A (the top grade) in the last two audits (1996 and 2001).[36] Many other non-governmental rankings exist, generally placing LSE economic research labs and departments amongst the top 20 in the world, and mostly in the top position outside the US [37]. Where concentration areas within economics are considered, the LSE is ranked generally amongst the top 12 research institutions in the world.[38]
[edit] Notable alumni and staff
See List of London School of Economics people
LSE alumni and former staff include fifteen Nobel Prize winners in Economics, Peace and Literature, including Leonid Hurwicz in 2007, forty-two heads of state or heads of government, including six current heads of state or government (Italy, Denmark, Bulgaria, Kenya, Kiribati and Costa Rica), twenty-nine current British Members of Parliament (including three members of the current Cabinet) and forty-three current peers of the House of Lords.
Famous alumni include the former American President John F. Kennedy, as well as his brother Joseph, and the international banker and statesman David Rockefeller (whose family, along with the Rockefeller Foundation, financially supported the institution in the postwar period). The current Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Bulgaria Sergey Stanishev, President of Costa Rica Óscar Arias, President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki and President of Kiribati Anote Tong, as well as Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway are all LSE alumni. Additionally, former heads of state or government in Jamaica, Poland, Estonia, Nepal, Fiji, Peru, India, Mauritius and Greece have studied at the LSE.
Two Canadian Prime Ministers (Kim Campbell and Pierre Elliot Trudeau), Weimar Chancellor Heinrich Brüning, the Norwegian Crown-Prince, the first Governor of Australia's central bank Nugget Coombs and several billionaires including George Soros and founder of the easygroup, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou were at LSE.
Other famous alumni include Cherie Blair (wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair), Robert Kilroy-Silk, historian David Starkey, the journalist Kirsty Lang, Loyd Grossman, and the father of Rupert Murdoch, Keith Murdoch all studied there. Shami Chakrabarti, the current Director of Liberty, studied at LSE, as did Clara Furse, the current Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange. Promenient British journalist, writer Rod Liddle and Makhdoom Ali Khan, former Attorney General of Pakistan (2001-2007) attended LSE during the 70's, whilst Lord Saatchi also studied at the School.
Celebrities including Monica Lewinsky, James Floyd, Martin Lewis, WWE wrestler Sean Morley (better known as Val Venis), and Hustle star Jaime Murray and The Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger were all educated at LSE. Anthony Kennedy, who is currently an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court, Professor Dushka H Saiyid and well known British MPs including Edwina Currie, Margaret Hodge, Frank Dobson, Baroness Virginia Bottomley. Current members of the Cabinet Yvette Cooper, Ed Miliband and Ruth Kelly also attended. The renowned barrister and former Indian cabinet minister A.K.Sen was also a scholar at the institution.
The British Prime Minister Clement Attlee taught at the LSE. The Philosophy Department was founded by Sir Karl Popper and has served as a place of study for well-known philosophers of science such as Paul Feyerabend and Imre Lakatos.
With the appointment of both Tim Besley and Andrew Sentance to the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, which is responsible for setting interest rates and managing inflation in the UK, a total of six former LSE graduates, researchers and professors now sit on the panel that governs UK monetary policy. The other LSE affiliated members comprise of Governor Mervyn King, Chief Economist Charles Bean, Deputy Governor Rachel Lomax and external member David Blanchflower.[39]
Fictional former Prime Minister of Great Britain and former Minister for Administrative Affairs, James Hacker, studied economics at the LSE in the critically acclaimed Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister television series, as did fictional US president Jed Bartlett from NBC's acclaimed television series The West Wing.
[edit] A new lobby
Recent press reports have identified the LSE as part of a new group of universities which has started to act as a self-conscious elite lobby and pressure group: known commonly as the 'G5'.[40][41] According to the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), the five are the LSE, Imperial College London, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and University College London, and it describes them as the "super-elite" (as all five are already members of the elite Russell Group).[42]
The 'G5' have begun to meet regularly and formally to plan their own path through the upheavals that are currently transforming British higher education, and to lobby for their own particular interests in maintaining the standards at the sharp end of tertiary education in the UK.
It has been reported in the THES [43][44] that, "The group, which calls itself the G5, warns that without more money to support its high-quality teaching, its members will turn away British undergraduates and focus instead on overseas and postgraduate students, whose fees cover most of the full cost of their courses. The new group has been meeting in secret for a few months. Few vice-chancellors know of its existence as a fully fledged grouping. The G5's goal is to secure extra state cash above the £3,000 student top-up fees likely from 2006 to cover the full costs of home and European Union undergraduates on their courses. The G5 group will make a case for special treatment for its members."
Sir Richard Sykes, rector of Imperial, said: "Imperial does not have any cheap courses. We will press the government to recognise this or lift the [£3,000] cap [on fees]. If they say our courses are too high quality and too expensive, we will not reduce our quality. We will have to look at expanding the number of postgraduates and overseas undergraduates we take." [45]
These five colleges have been noted to share the following attributes which appear to have been the common binding factors: strong research outputs, high teaching ratings, many famous names in public life, a major impact on global affairs and policy, and big international standing in academia. They also have some of the most influential and active student unions, with the overall University of London Student Union standing out for notable activism against successive governments, ranging from the 1968 storming of Downing Street, to recent protests over the War on Iraq and student "top-up" fees.
The LSE is also member of a new group known as the Golden Triangle, made up of Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Imperial and KCL. The last four are each notable colleges of the University of London, and are often regarded as universities[46] in their own right. All have made progress towards gaining the right to award their own degrees.
[edit] Directors
Unlike other British universities and institutions, the LSE does not follow the model of having a ceremonial Chancellor and a 'chief executive' figure of a Vice-Chancellor responsible for the overall running of the university. Instead, there is a single Director, responsible solely for the running of the School with a Board of Trustees and the Court of Governors.
- William Hewins (1895-1903)
- Sir Halford Mackinder (1903-1908)
- William Pember Reeves (1908-19)
- Lord William Beveridge (1919-1937)
- Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders (1937-1957)
- Sir Sydney Caine (1957-1967)
- Sir Walter Adams (1967-1974)
- Professor Lord Ralf Dahrendorf (1974-1984)
- Dr Indraprasad Patel (1984-1990)
- Sir John Ashworth (1990-1996)
- Professor Lord Anthony Giddens (1996-2003)
- Sir Howard Davies (2003-)
The present Chairman of the Court of Governors is Peter Sutherland, the former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, who replaced Lord Grabiner of Aldwych in December 2007. Sir Anthony Battishill is Vice-Chair. Amongst the Court of Governors, there are many internationally recognised figures including Cherie Booth, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Lord Saatchi.
As a specialist college of the University of London, the ceremonial Chancellor of The Princess Royal is also linked with the School.
[edit] Degrees
The LSE awards academic degrees spanning bachelor's and master's degrees as well as junior doctorates and higher doctorates. The postnominals awarded are the degree abbreviations used commonly among British universities.
In 2007, the LSE was granted the power to award its own degrees.[47]. In a statement from Director Sir Howard Davies, it was announced that while the LSE, UCL and KCL have decided to remain within the University of London, students entering the LSE from September 2007 onwards will receive degrees issued by the London School of Economics and Political Science, rather than the University of London. This would apparently contradict the terms of membership of the University of London, and presumably some new basis of membership has been agreed, which allows the LSE to award students its own degrees. Additionally, the LSE will begin to use its own formal academic wear (gowns etc.) and award its own certificates.</div>
There has been a mixed debate on the new format for awarding degrees, especially within the LSE's Student Union. Whilst some agree that it undermines the membership and clout of London degrees, especially for other constituent institutions of the University of London, the decision for the LSE to award its own degrees has been met with great praise from students.
[edit] Location and Transport
The LSE is well situated in Westminster, between Covent Garden, Aldwych and Temple Bar, bordering the City of London. It resides adjacent to the Royal Courts of Justice, Lincoln’s Fields and Kingsway. The School is inside the central London Congestion Charging zone, and in common with all of central London, parking is virtually impossible.
The nearest London Underground stations are Holborn, Temple and Covent Garden, with Aldwych having closed in 1994. Charing Cross, at the other end of Strand is the nearest mainline station, whilst London Waterloo is ten minutes walk across the River Thames, offering access to south England and the west country. For nearly 15 years, Waterloo International was situated across the River from campus, providing easy access to continental Europe, however, as of 14 November 2007, Eurostar services have moved to St Pancras International, which is approximately 25 minutes walk from campus. Buses to Aldwych and Kingsway will stop right outside the School at Houghton Street.
[edit] Notes
- "LSE: A History of the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1895-1995", Oxford University Press, June 1, 1995.
- "Determined Challengers Keep Heat On The Elite", The Times Higher Education Supplement, October 28, 2005
- "Outstanding library and archive collections receive national recognition", MLA News, October 28, 2005
- "1969: LSE closes over student clashes", BBC News
- "JEEA Published Ranking", "Source: Table 3 of Pantelis Kalaitzidakis, Theofanis P. Mamuneas, and Thanasis Stengos (2003)"
- "Top 200 universities: evolution over time", "ULB 6/17/02"
- "EconPh.D Net Dec 1, 2005", "EconPh. D Net"
- "Cowles, Yale", "Francisco Cribari-Neto, Mark J. Jensen and Álvaro A. Novo, "Research in Econometric Theory: Quantitative and Qualitative Productivity Rankings," Econometric Theory, 1999"
- "HERO 1996", "UK Research Assessment Exercise 1996"
- "HERO 2001", "UK Research Assessment Exercise 2001"
- "IDEAS Research Assessment UK top 20% of Departments & World top 5% of Departments", "IDEAS, University of Connecticut, Top 20% UK institutions"
[edit] References
- ↑ a b c Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06. Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
- ^ The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2007 - Profile for London School of Economics. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
- ^ The Russell Group Home Page.
- ^ Going it alone. EducationGuardian August 2, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
- ^ LSE Undergraduate Prospectus
- ^ BBC website: LSE Student Protests.
- ^ BBC website: On This Day - LSE Student Protests.
- ^ Societies A-Z List.
- ^ [1] — A 2006 ranking from THES - QS of the world’s research universities.
- ^ The Times Good University Guide 2008. The Times. Retrieved on 03-11-2007.
- ^ The Times Good University Guide 2007 - Top Universities 2007 League Table. The Times. Retrieved on 03-11-2007.
- ^ The Times Top Universities. The Times. Retrieved on 03-11-2007.
- ^ University ranking by institution. The Guardian. Retrieved on 29-10-2007.
- ^ University ranking by institution. The Guardian. Retrieved on 29-10-2007.
- ^ University ranking by institution. The Guardian. Retrieved on 29-10-2007.
- ^ The Sunday Times Good University Guide League Tables. The Sunday Times. Retrieved on 03-11-2007.
- ↑ a b The Sunday Times University League Table. The Sunday Times. Retrieved on 03-11-2007.
- ^ University league table. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 29-10-2007.
- ^ THES - QS World University Rankings 2007. THES. Retrieved on 08-12-2007.
- ^ THES - QS World University Rankings 2006. THES. Retrieved on 03-11-2007.
- ^