LSE’s diverse mix of people and ideas, with students and staff from over 140 countries, underpins its global reputation for excellence. It is the School’s dynamic community that makes studying and working here a unique experience. Within this setting, the Department of International History is committed to promoting inclusivity and equity, and to creating an environment of mutual respect and dignity. We pride ourselves on providing a welcoming academic atmosphere for students and staff alike, one where lively intellectual discussions result from encounters with difficult, challenging and sometimes controversial subjects.
History is an ongoing conversation, and new generations of historians ask new questions, bringing their own experiences and perspectives about the past and the present to bear on their work. Our curriculum and sources are chosen on intellectual grounds and are closely linked with staff’s research and expertise. In studying history, students are given the chance to discuss and critically engage with varied material. And in doing so we believe that students will have the best opportunity to thrive and reach their full academic potential. As a departmental community we cherish the chance to work with each individual student to achieve a meaningful learning experience.
Our environment of open academic dialogue is fundamentally important to the Department. Learning how to place history in context and critically analyse historical sources is an essential part of studying history. Historians very often have to deal with subjects that they might find disturbing, both written and visual, and that primary material from the past often deals with contentious subjects and may contain discriminatory or prejudiced views. However, there is a sharp distinction between encountering offensive views in the context of historical study and endorsing them in the present. The latter is unacceptable; the former is part of being an historian and a social scientist. Recognising the legacies of racism in the present, for example, is vital to understanding how structures of inequality built in the past continue to shape the contemporary world.
The Department continues to build an inclusive community, and has an EDI representative for this purpose. The Department has a special fund to support events, groups or societies in the Department dedicated to fostering equity, diversity and inclusion in the Department.
Read more about LSE’s approach to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. You can also find out more about EDI policies, legislation, events, data and campaigns through the School’s EDI website or through the LSE Student’s Union.
Report it. Stop It.
LSE’s Report an incident website is specifically designed to report any type of discrimination, bullying and harassment encountered on campus, including racism. It also offers helpful explanations of how these issues are defined and should be understood. Racism, discrimination, bullying and harassment are all unacceptable and will not be tolerated. It is therefore very important that you let the Department and LSE know if these issues affect you or anyone you know. If you have any concerns or questions, you can also contact the Department's EDI Representative , Dr Jake Richards. In addition, you are welcome to email the Head of Department, Professor Marc Baer directly.
LSE is committed to building a diverse, equitable and truly inclusive university. LSE believes that diversity is critical to maintaining excellence in all of our endeavours. We seek to enable all members of the School community to achieve their full potential in an environment characterised by equality of respect and opportunity.
The School’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is one of its six strategic priorities, as highlighted in the LSE Strategy 2020, and 'equality of respect and opportunity' is one of the core principles set out in the School’s Ethics Code. The EDI acts to promote and further LSE’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion for all members of the School community.
To provide some examples of the School's work:
- Athena SWAN is a national charter mark – run by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) – that recognises the advancement of gender equality in higher education: representation, progression and success for all. The School has been working towards an institutional bronze Athena SWAN award.
- In 2017, LSE will be convening a self-assessment team to work towards the ECU’s Race Equality Charter Mark. The Race Equality Charter is focussed on improving the representation, progression and success of black and minority ethnic (BME) staff and students in Higher Education.
- LSE is a Stonewall diversity champion and is part of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
- LSE has also worked closely with DisabledGo to develop online access guides to all the School’s buildings, and route maps around campus.
8 July 2020, Wednesday, 13:30-15:30, Zoom
Student-organised discussion: Pandemic, Racial Discriminations and Conflicts: Racism in the time of Coronavirus
Speakers: Maya Singhal (Harvard), Professor Mark Harrison (Oxford), Professor Jean Comarof (Harvard), Professor Angela Ki-Che Leung (University of Hong Kong)
Chair: Dr Pete Millwood (LSE International History)
At the beginning of 2020, a new virus appeared in Wuhan, China; and China quickly became the pandemic center. As a consequence, the overseas Chinese community, as well as the Asian community suffered from discrimination and even hostile treatment. According to The Guardian, hate crime against Asians increased over 21% after the coronavirus outbreak. The virus is also being politicized as President Trump directly called it “Chinese Virus” during a press conference.
This event was generously supported by a fund from the LSE Department of International History's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
11 May 2018, Thursday, 09:30-16:00, Vera Anstey Room, Old Building, LSE
Speaker: Professor Diana Paton (Edinburgh)
Participants: Dr Catherine Baker (Hull), Dr Dawn-Marie Gibson (RHUL), Dr Ben Griffin (Cambridge), Dr Tanya Harmer (LSE), Professor Diana Jeater (Goldsmiths), Ms Katie McElvanney (QMUL) and Dr Imaobong Umoren (LSE)
Too often historians have treated gender as a separate topic, confining its study to the subfields of gender or women’s history. Research conducted in these fields is pioneering and plays an important role in challenging prevailing narratives and ensuring that through revision, women’s experiences and contributions are acknowledged in history. While it is necessary to have fields that primarily focus on gender in history, historians in all fields can benefit from actively considering gender as a constant factor and analytical lens in their research. For some historians, it seems often difficult to integrate women’s perspectives and issues into ‘traditional’ history due to, amongst others, archival records that favour men and unconscious biases that it was predominantly men that have shaped history. To that end, we hosted this workshop so that historians can learn how to use gender as an analytical tool in research.
This event, organised by PhD students Grace Carrington, Judith Jacob and Eline van Ommen was generously supported by a fund from the LSE Department of International History's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
25 April 2018, Thursday, 16:00-18:00, NAB.1.04, LSE
Screening of documentary "Slut Phobia" (Sletvrees 2013) by Sunny Bergman in which gender norms in sexuality and duality in female sexuality are explored. The screening was followed by a group discussion led by event organisers, MSc Student Laura Arts (International History) and MSc student Emily ter Steeg (International Relations).
This event was generously supported by a fund from the LSE Department of International History's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.