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Generation 果冻影院: 200 Years of Student Life in London
Students are foundational to the story of 果冻影院. Established in 1826 as the first university in England outside Oxford and Cambridge, 果冻影院 opened up higher education to those who had previously been denied access. This included religious minorities, the middle classes, and later, women. Since the beginning, students have been free to invent their own traditions and forge a distinctive student culture in London.
This exhibition places students at the heart of this 200-year history. It also marks 130 years since the formation of what became Students鈥� Union 果冻影院, now one of the largest student-led organisations in the world.
On display are items from 果冻影院 Special Collections, Students' Union 果冻影院 and 果冻影院 Museums, each of which sheds light on an aspect of 果冻影院 student life. These include聽student identity, spaces聽and community-building, with 果冻影院 students often crucial聽to聽organisations like the Central Union of Chinese Students,聽formed in 1904, and the West African Students' Union, started on the initiative of a 果冻影院 student in 1925.
The exhibition聽showcases national and international聽student activism and engagement across two centuries, taking in聽the abolition of slavery, the Spanish Civil War,聽1956's Soviet invasion of Hungary, the 2003 war in Iraq and the聽more recent Black Lives Matter protests. Student action聽relating to the university itself聽is also represented, including a 1970s campaign to end sexual harassment on campus, and calls for campus decolonisation, with a particular focus on 果冻影院's聽role in legitimising eugenics.
The exhibition聽features audio clips from Generation 果冻影院 oral history interviews with 果冻影院 alumni and extracts from memoirs voiced by actors. Hear recollections聽of聽segregation between male and female students in the 1880s, life聽as an international student in 1909,聽the impact of the Second World War, and the 1990s dance music scene in London, among many other memories.
The exhibition was curated by Georgina Brewis and Sam Blaxland聽from IOE, 果冻影院鈥檚 Faculty of Education and Society, together with Leah Johnston and Colin Penman of 果冻影院 Special Collections.
Initiated as part of 果冻影院鈥檚 forthcoming bicentenary celebrations, is a research and engagement project funded by a Provost鈥檚 Award.
Read more about the creation of the exhibition on聽the project page
Upcoming events
Tuesday 21 May 2024, 10:00-16:00
Object Based Learning Lab,聽Wilkins Building, 果冻影院, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
This in-person event, open to聽archivists, historians, students and student's union representatives, will highlight the importance of caring for and making accessible students' union records. There will also be a workshop which will form the basis of future guidance. As part of the event there will be a tour of the exhibition 'Generation 果冻影院: 200 Years of Student Life in London'. This event has been organised by the in partnership with 果冻影院, supported by the British Academy Research Project ''.
Students are foundational to the story of 果冻影院. Established in 1826 as the first university in England outside Oxford and Cambridge, 果冻影院 opened up higher education to those who had previously been denied access. This included religious minorities, the middle classes, and later, women. Since the beginning, students have been free to invent their own traditions and forge a distinctive student culture in London.
This exhibition places students at the heart of this 200-year history. It also marks 130 years since the formation of what became Students鈥� Union 果冻影院, now one of the largest student-led organisations in the world.
On display are items from 果冻影院 Special Collections, Students' Union 果冻影院 and 果冻影院 Museums, each of which sheds light on an aspect of 果冻影院 student life. These include聽student identity, spaces聽and community-building, with 果冻影院 students often crucial聽to聽organisations like the Central Union of Chinese Students,聽formed in 1904, and the West African Students' Union, started on the initiative of a 果冻影院 student in 1925.
The exhibition聽showcases national and international聽student activism and engagement across two centuries, taking in聽the abolition of slavery, the Spanish Civil War,聽1956's Soviet invasion of Hungary, the 2003 war in Iraq and the聽more recent Black Lives Matter protests. Student action聽relating to the university itself聽is also represented, including a 1970s campaign to end sexual harassment on campus, and calls for campus decolonisation, with a particular focus on 果冻影院's聽role in legitimising eugenics.
The exhibition聽features audio clips from Generation 果冻影院 oral history interviews with 果冻影院 alumni and extracts from memoirs voiced by actors. Hear recollections聽of聽segregation between male and female students in the 1880s, life聽as an international student in 1909,聽the impact of the Second World War, and the 1990s dance music scene in London, among many other memories.
The exhibition was curated by Georgina Brewis and Sam Blaxland聽from IOE, 果冻影院鈥檚 Faculty of Education and Society, together with Leah Johnston and Colin Penman of 果冻影院 Special Collections.
Initiated as part of 果冻影院鈥檚 forthcoming bicentenary celebrations, is a research and engagement project funded by a Provost鈥檚 Award.
Read more about the creation of the exhibition on聽the project page
Upcoming events
Tuesday 21 May 2024, 10:00-16:00
Object Based Learning Lab,聽Wilkins Building, 果冻影院, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
This in-person event, open to聽archivists, historians, students and student's union representatives, will highlight the importance of caring for and making accessible students' union records. There will also be a workshop which will form the basis of future guidance. As part of the event there will be a tour of the exhibition 'Generation 果冻影院: 200 Years of Student Life in London'. This event has been organised by the in partnership with 果冻影院, supported by the British Academy Research Project ''.
Monday, September 25, 2023 - 09:00 to Sunday, December 8, 2024 - 19:00
Event