Personal author: Abishegam, Priscilla

Music Society's Lent Term Concert 2009; performing the aria Vissi d'arte from Act II of Puccini's Tosca

Personal author: Abishegam, Priscilla

India Week 2009 on Houghton Street; the International Officer of the Student's Union really wanted to wear a sari and this is a picture of us tying a sari for him.

Submitted by: Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey
Date: Autumn 2019-January 2021

This book began in autumn 2019, and continued throughout the Covid pandemic. It is being published by Ubiquity Press, as an open-source book, with a publication date of about 1st October 2021. It was meant to be part of the School's 125th anniversary celebration and is the first ever history of the LSE Government Department.

The contributors include students at all levels (undergraduate, masters, doctoral), working together with Gordon Bannerman (a British historian who previously studied at LSE) and Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey as Head of the Department. Moreover, we wanted to ensure that different perspectives were heard and so along with archival research, we included dozens of interviews with current and former academics, PSS staff, students and alumni. We wanted the history to have many voices, and I think that we have achieved that.

Completing this during Covid posed many challenges. First, we had only two months to conduct the in-person archival work in the library before the first lockdown hit. This posed a major challenge as it made access to the historical archives impossible. Fortunately, the research that had been done, together with on-line research, allowed us to move forward.

A second challenge was that we were all working from various parts of the worldCanada, Kenya, Lebanon, Poland, and different parts of the UK! So, just keeping the focus and momentum going as the pandemic raged throughout the world was quite the task. Somehow, each of us managed to bring our contributions to the volume at different times, as we were each facing our own Covid-related disruptions along the way.

A third challenge was obtaining the interviews as the turmoil of Covid took hold. Here, Skype, Zoom and phone calls made the interviews possible, and in some cases, were more convenient than in-person interviews. The real difficulty was that in spring of 2020, many interviewees were difficult to contact, given the on-going turmoil in everyones lives. But the fact that so many interviewees were willing to take the time for us is a real testament to the strength of feeling that many have towards the Department and the School more generally.

The book itself traces the emergence and evolution of the LSE Government Department from 1895 to 2020, focusing on the personalities that guided the development of the Department, the social and political contexts the Department existed within, its research agenda and course structure, and the location of the Department in British politics. It also charts the evolution of the discipline of political science in Britain itself. The volume is divided chronologically into four chapters, each covering roughly similar time periods in the Departments history and focuses on the events that shaped it: personalities, events, and location. Key themes are the development of political science in Britain, the impact of location on the LSE Government Department, the professionalisation of academia in Britain, and the microcosm the Department presents of British political life during each time period. The conflicts between progressive and conservative forces are a recurring theme which helps link the internal dynamics of the Department with the wider social and political contexts that occurred from the beginning of the School to its 125th anniversary.

Submitted by: Dana Ramadan
Date: February 2021
Location: In my kitchen, in my London shared flat in Islington

I finally found the time to start bulk shopping after discovering my local zero-waste stores.

Personal author: Kusmu, Petros

Three photos. Two from June 2015 celebrating the last day of exams with my colleagues in the MSc IPE program (one in front of the Old Building and Lincoln's Inn Fields). Another from Dec 2015, again in front of the Old Building, celebrating our last day together after our graduation ceremony. Looking at these photos completely floods me with happiness, nostalgia and a yearning to go back in time. My time at LSE was remarkable.

Personal author: Kusmu, Petros

Three photos. Two from June 2015 celebrating the last day of exams with my colleagues in the MSc IPE program (one in front of the Old Building and Lincoln's Inn Fields). Another from Dec 2015, again in front of the Old Building, celebrating our last day together after our graduation ceremony. Looking at these photos completely floods me with happiness, nostalgia and a yearning to go back in time. My time at LSE was remarkable.

Personal author: Kusmu, Petros

Three photos. Two from June 2015 celebrating the last day of exams with my colleagues in the MSc IPE program (one in front of the Old Building and Lincoln's Inn Fields). Another from Dec 2015, again in front of the Old Building, celebrating our last day together after our graduation ceremony. Looking at these photos completely floods me with happiness, nostalgia and a yearning to go back in time. My time at LSE was remarkable.

Personal author: Bawa, Parmeshwar

MSc Media, Communication and Development family of 2020

Submitted by: Sarah Jewett
Date: 30 May 2020
Location: Sainsbury's (now closed), 71 High Holborn

I was walking for exercise around London from Rosebery Hall towards LSE in late May and was struck by this graffiti mural by Bowen and Blackmore (London street artists) on the boarded up Sainsbury's close to campus. It marked a point in the pandemic in which many sought to highlight the importance of key workers just about two months after the lockdown began and restrictions were soon to be eased up a bit. The woman in the photo was one of very few people I came across.

Personal author: Wipp, Nadja

15th April 2019, LSE Campus One of my fondest memories of studying at LSE is the day that I had the pleasure of meeting US House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Submitted by: Grace Oswald
Date: February 2021
Location: Queen's Hospital, Romford

I usually work part time as a Healthcare Assistant in the Emergency Department. This photo was taken during my first ITU shift earlier this year- it was a night shift and I was already nervous to be working in a new area. I had the fright of my life (and actually screamed) when I switched on the light in the store room and found this disfigured hospital training doll. It was very funny and certainly made my new team laugh. I think it has now become a running joke to play on new staff- she seems to pop up everywhere!

Personal author: Lee, Minkyu

On 18th Dec 2013, I had my graduation ceremony from LSE, officially holding my degree in MSc in Gender, Development and Globalisation. The degree is very rare for a man, male person, heterosexual feminist man, diversity-oriented gender studier, who is from Busan, South Korea, however, I am so proud of my achievement and time that I could spend with most wonderful women and men, human beings, friends and colleagues from Gender Institute and other departments at LSE. Although it was just one year, I loved it so much so that I had to bring someone who I love with me for my graduation day. It was my mom. She was sitting at the very front seat while I was shaking hands with the then Dean of the School, David Calhoun. So much great memory and a sweet end of the time, which will last forever and ever. Thank you very much, LSE, for being always the smallest but most beutiful part of my life. Thank you.

Personal author: Volic, Milica

October 2019, in front of the Library entrance with my classmate from Chile, Valentina Contreraa

Personal author: Zhang, Menghan

2019

Personal author: Zhang, Menghan

2017

Submitted by: Rachael Maguire
Date: February 2021 and April 2021
Location: Near Lincoln's Inn Fields

I had to go into the dentist and took the photos to show colleagues how the Marshall Building was progressing.

Personal author: Froio, Mariasilvia

Last day of exams for the students of the Department of International Development (June 2014). Celebrating with champagne in Lincoln's Inn Fields!

Personal author: Froio, Mariasilvia

LSE's MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies (Class of 2014)

Personal author: Venkatraman, Malavika

My first day in school after self isolation!

Submitted by: Avanes Khachaturov
Date: 17 March 2021
Location: Red Lion Square, London

With physical lectures being cancelled and all classes moving online by December 2020, I found that I had much more time to explore lunch options around campus. Before, my typical day involved rushing from one lecture hall or classroom to another, with studying in the Library in between, and hence I was limited by how far from campus I could venture out.

Most of the fast causal restaurants dotting Kingsway that specialized in providing food were closed the previous year, with primarily coffee chains remaining open for take away, offering only small sandwiches and toasties as lunch options. On the other hand, Lamb's Conduit Passage and Red Lion Street, which runs parallel to Red Lion Square, offered many small and cheap eateries of various cuisines, from Korean to Malaysian to British classics, which I only found the time to try out now that all of my studies were online and not tied to campus.

The picture taken was during one such lunch time, a relatively warm day for the weather that month, with the benches lining the park offering excellent places to sit back, enjoy a warm meal, and either listen to music or a podcast, or to just take in the sounds around you.

Personal author: Tomar, Louisa

MSc Development Management, Big Data consultancy team featuring Tinashe Zimani, William Guicheney, Hope Kyarisiima and Louisa Tomar celebrating end of term in London Fields, Hackney 2016

Personal author: Reitmann, Louis

25 November 2018, Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park The study retreat at Cumberland Lodge is my most cherished memory from my time at LSE. Never before did I have the chance to ponder, debate, and appreciate International Relations so intimately with such outstanding, bright minds from around the globe. It was an experience that connected me deeply with my discipline and that created friendships lasting until today. And meeting HM The Queen, who in her lifetime has witnessed and shaped global events as only a few people in history, was a brilliant conclusion to a weekend I will never forget.

Submitted by: Grammateia Kotsialou
Date: May 2020
Location: Gunnersbury Park, London

The lockdown period awakened a creative part of me, a passion for photography. During a lockdown 'exercise' walk with my husband, I saw this spot and tried to capture as much as possible of this beauty.

Personal author: Sun, Lilly

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Personal author: Serolong-Holzapfel, Lesego

Msc Social Policy and Development 2013-2014. Photo taken at the LSE. Im an entrepreneur from South Africa.

Personal author: Munton, Lauren

Freshers Grand Ball October 1980 - main act was the unknown band U2 in the Quadrangle! We didn't know who they were and weren't impressed so we wandered off to see another band or most likely to the bar.

Submitted by: Beatriz Tiago Fernandes Marques Da Silva
Date: 31 March 2021
Location: LSE Library

Despite the academic year having been incredibly difficult for our student newspaper The Beaver, the features team still met every week to share our ideas for articles and enjoy some time venting about how busy our week had been so far. Our last meeting felt bittersweet as some of our friends in the team were graduating soon without us having properly hang out in person all together. I still could not be prouder of our team effort. We made memories over Zoom that won't be easily forgotten.

Personal author: Chan, Kenddrick

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