From 1993 to 2012, The London Consortium was a graduate school in the UK offering multidisciplinary Masters and Doctoral programs in the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. It was administered by

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

, one of the constituent colleges of the

, and fell under the Humanities list of courses at Birkbeck. The London Consortium was a collaborative program composed of Birkbeck, the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications. History The Architectura ...

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

, the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

and the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

. As of 2013, The London Consortium exists solely as a legacy partnership between the constituent institutions for the benefit of the remaining PhD students until the completion of their dissertations.

History

The Consortium was founded in 1993 by the late social philosopher

Paul Hirst Paul Quentin Hirst (1946–2003) was a British sociologist and political theorist. He became Professor of Social Theory at Birkbeck College, London, in 1985 and held the post until his death from a stroke and brain haemorrhage. Biography On 20 ...

(1947-2003), Mark Cousins, Richard Humphreys, and Colin MacCabe. Until 1999, the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

was part of the Consortium. After the BFI (British Film Institute) removed its involvement (due to policy changes and external pressures at that institution), it was replaced by the Institute of Contemporary Arts. In 2007, the

joined the collaboration, with its Head of Research, Peter Morris, contributing as a core faculty member.

Faculty

The Consortium's permanent and adjunct faculty included figures such as the psychoanalytic theorist Parveen Adams, cultural theorist Steven Connor, architectural theorist and philosopher Mark Cousins, Tate curators Marko Daniel and Richard Humphreys, film theorist and producer

Colin MacCabe Colin Myles Joseph MacCabe (born 9 February 1949) is an English academic, writer and film producer. He is currently a distinguished professor of English and film at the University of Pittsburgh.

, philosopher John Sellars, artist and writer Tom McCarthy, and film theorist

Laura Mulvey Laura Mulvey (born 15 August 1941) is a British feminist film theorist and filmmaker. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She previously taught ...

. Past supervisors and visiting faculty have included cultural theorist Stuart Hall, psychoanalytic theorist

Juliet Mitchell Juliet Mitchell, Lady Goody (born 4 October 1940) is a British psychoanalyst, socialist feminist, research professor and author. Early life and education Mitchell was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1940, and then moved to England in ...

, writer

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publication ...

, and psychoanalytic philosopher

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

. Its chairman was the lawyer and writer

Anthony Julius Anthony Robert Julius (born 16 July 1956) is a British solicitor advocate known for being Diana, Princess of Wales' divorce lawyer and for representing Deborah Lipstadt. He is the deputy chairman at the law firm Mishcon de Reya and honorary ...

Academic programmes

The Consortium offered courses taught by faculty from across all five constituent institutions, including professors from Birkbeck and the Architectural Association, curators from the Tate and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, as well as external faculty drawn from various institutions in London and across the UK. Classes were taught in venues at Birkbeck, the Tate Modern and Tate Britain, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and the Science Museum.

Masters

MRes Humanities and Cultural Studies

The Master of Research programme was available only as a one-year full-time course. It was a unique and challenging post-graduate introduction to theories, methods and knowledges in the humanities and cultural studies. Students combined coursework and research throughout, culminating in the production of a dissertation. The Master of Research was taken as a stand-alone degree in its own right, and also acted as a pathway into the Consortium PhD programme.

MA in Film Curating

The MA in Film Curating, which was offered for two years beginning in October 2010, was a collaboration between the London Consortium and the London Film School. Bringing together recent thinking about curating contemporary art with the constantly evolving world of film, film festivals, and the movie business, it offered a theoretical exploration into the role of film curating in an age in which digital distribution technologies have transformed both the traditional notion of curating and the commercial film distribution sector. Students also gained practical experience in curating, within the context of existing film festivals like Cannes and Rotterdam, both of which were visited, and through the practical curation of film or film/related events.

Doctoral

PhD Humanities and Cultural Studies

The Consortium PhD included a taught component. First year PhD students followed the same core courses as those studying towards the MRes, courses designed to give a grounding in multidisciplinary research. Previous core courses included 'Catastrophe', 'St. Paul', 'Godard's ''Contempt'': Text and Pretext', 'Shit and Civilization', 'Metamorphosis', and 'Whiteness'. Through courses like these, the Consortium could be thought of as developing an original conception of

Cultural Studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

. While the

Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was a research centre at the University of Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1964 by Stuart Hall and Richard Hoggart, its first director. From 1964 to 2002, it played a critical role in dev ...

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

—founded by

Richard Hoggart Herbert Richard Hoggart (24 September 1918 – 10 April 2014) was an English academic whose career covered the fields of sociology, English literature and cultural studies, with emphasis on British popular culture. Early life Hoggart was bor ...

and for a long time the institutional home of Stuart Hall—conceived of Cultural Studies as the study of contemporary

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

, the London Consortium has sought to develop a research and teaching climate where the study of older historical periods, on the one hand, and of 'high' culture on the other, can take its place alongside the more traditional foci of the discipline. This also entails a different approach to interdisciplinarity. Where interdisciplinary studies had often been content to merely ignore the traditional academic disciplines, and run roughshod over disciplinary boundaries, the London Consortium preferred to describe its activities as ''multidisciplinary'', reflecting the belief that while the best research benefited from being approached from two or more disciplinary perspectives, it must also stand up to the most exacting standards of the disciplines.

Notable alumni

* Thomas Altheimer, British artistFictioneering Rogues, or, The end of the Artist in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, (2012). http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.578629 *

Katie Kitamura Katie Kitamura (born 1979) is an American novelist, journalist, and art critic. As of April 2025, she was teaching creative writing at New York University. Early life and education Katie Kitamura was born in Sacramento, California in 1979 to a fa ...

, American novelist *

Markus Miessen Markus Miessen (born in Bonn, 1978) is a German architect and writer. Education and teaching Since 2021, Markus Miessen has been Professor of Urban Regeneration at the University of Luxembourg, where he holds the Chair of the City of Esch, assoc ...

, Architect, Theorist *

Richard Mosse Richard Mosse (born 1980) is an Irish artist who works with photography and video. Early life and education Mosse was born in Kilkenny, Ireland.https://www.carliergebauer.com/downloads/CV_RM_2023.pdf He received a first class BA in English l ...

, Photographer *

Lee Scrivner Lee Scrivner (born February 10, 1971) is an American novelist and Cultural Studies, cultural theorist known for his books ''Casinolabs'' (2025) and ''Becoming Insomniac'' (2014), and for his satirical avant-garde art manifestos. He writes on the ...

, American novelist and cultural historian *

Christopher Turner Christopher Turner may refer to: * Christopher J. Turner (1933–2014), governor of the Turks and Caicos and of Montserrat * Christopher Turner (writer), British writer * Kristopher Turner Kristopher Turner (born September 27, 1980) is a Cana ...

, Editor of Icon Magazine *

Aaron Schuman Aaron Schuman (born 1977) is an American photographer, writer, curator and educator based in the United Kingdom. His books of photography include ''Folk'' (2016), ''Slant'' (2019) and ''Sonata'' (2022). Life and work Early life and education Aaron ...

, photographer, writer, curator and educator *

Eyal Weizman Eyal Weizman MBE FBA (; born 1970) is a British Israeli architect. He is the director of the research agency Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London where he is Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures and a founding director ...

, Architect, Director of Research Architecture,

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

, University of London * Kathy Battista, curator, writer * Tim Horsburgh, film distributor, academic * Brandon LaBelle, Sound Artist * Leandro Nerefuh, Art Historian * Shain Shapiro, Founder of music cities consultancy Sound Diplomacy. *Irini Marinaki, art historian, writer * Ricarda Vidal, lecturer, curator and translator

References

*
Critical Quarterly
' 42, no. 2 (Summer 2000), special issue of

Critical Quarterly ''Critical Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the humanities published by Wiley. The editor-in-chief is Colin MacCabe. The journal notably published the Black Papers on education starting in 1969. History Early years ''Critical Q ...

on the London Consortium, Blackwell Publishers
ICA page on the London Consortium

Birkbeck College Academic Quality Assurance document for the London Consortium graduate programs

Article by Mark Cousins on Paul Hirst and the London Consortium

Article on the early years of The London Consortium

External links

Birkbeck, University of London

Architectural Association School of Architecture

Tate Galleries

Science Museum

Institute of Contemporary Arts
{{authority control Birkbeck, University of London Educational institutions established in 1993 Educational institutions disestablished in 2012 Organisations associated with the University of London Science Museum, London 1993 establishments in England