LSE Cities has received a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a new initiative, exploring the intersection of architecture, urbanism and the humanities. The US$900,000 donation will fund a programme consisting of two components: the Mellon Fellowship Programme at LSE Cities, and the Urban Research Network, a network of urban scholars.
The intellectual objective of the programme is to connect humanities scholars from literature, philosophy, anthropology, film studies, art and architectural history more closely to urban research and teaching at the heart of LSE. It also aims to create an international network of institutions embedded in cities in rapidly urbanizing regions of the world that exposes a new generation of humanists to the social science urban culture.
The Mellon Fellows, due to start in autumn 2013 will be invited to spend nine months at LSE, engaging humanists in the study of urban life and becoming involved in postgraduate teaching and research. The project will be overseen by Professors Ricky Burdett and Richard Sennett and involve key teaching and research staff at LSE Cities.
“As an institution concerned with the social sciences and their real world impact, we welcome the transformative partnership of LSE and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,” said Craig Calhoun, Director of LSE. “One of LSE’s strategic interests is urbanisation; as such we are honoured that the Trustees have chosen to support our endeavours in this area.”
Professor Ricky Burdett, Director of LSE Cities, said: “LSE Cities has pioneered research and teaching that link the physical to the social in cities. This programme will take our work to another level, engaging those who design and manage cities with a new generation of scholars and practitioners, asking fundamental questions on what it means to inhabit a contemporary city.”
LSE Cities is an international centre designed to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focusing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment. For more information visit www.lsecities.net|