The
British Academy is the
United Kingdom's
national academy for the
humanities and the
social sciences. It was established in 1901 and received its
Royal Charter in 1902. It is now a fellowship of more than 900 scholars. The Academy is self-governing and independent.
Purposes
The Academy states its fundamental purposes under four headings:
• As a Fellowship composed of distinguished scholars, elected by their peers, it takes a lead in representing the humanities and social sciences, facilitating international collaboration, providing an independent and authoritative source of advice, and contributing to public policy and debate.
• As a learned society, it seeks to foster and promote the full range of work that makes up the humanities and social sciences, including inter- and multi-disciplinary work.
• As a funding body, it supports excellent ideas, individuals and intellectual resources in the humanities and social sciences, enables UK researchers to work with scholars and resources in other countries, sustains a British research presence in various parts of the world and helps attract overseas scholars to the UK.
• As a national forum for the humanities and social sciences, it supports a range of events, activities and publications (print and electronic) which aim to stimulate curiosity, to inspire and develop future generations of scholars, and to encourage appreciation of the social, economic and cultural value of these disciplines.
History
The creation of a “British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies” was first proposed in 1899 in order that Britain could be represented at meetings of European and American academies. The organisation, which has since become simply “the British Academy”, was established as an unincorporated society on 17 December 1901, and received its Royal Charter from King Edward VII on 8 August 1902.
Since then, many of Britain’s most distinguished scholars in the humanities and social sciences have been involved in the life of the Academy, including John Maynard Keynes, Isaiah Berlin, C. S. Lewis and Henry Moore.
Until 1927-8 the Academy had no premises. Then it moved to some rooms in No. 6 Burlington Gardens. In 1968 it moved the short distance to Burlington House. It subsequently moved to headquarters near Regent’s Park. Then in 1998 the Academy moved to its present headquarters in Carlton House Terrace. One of London’s finest Georgian treasures overlooking St James’s Park, the Terrace was designed by John Nash and built in the 1820s and 1830s. Number 10 was formerly the London residence of the Ridley family and number 11 was from 1856 to 1875 the home of Prime Minister William Gladstone.
In March 2010, the Academy embarked on an ambitious £2.75m project to renovate and restore the public rooms in No. 11, following the departure of former tenant the Foreign Press Association, and link the two buildings together. The work was completed in January 2011 and the spaces, including a new 150-seat Wolfson Auditorium are available for public hire.
The history, problems and achievements of the Academy have been recorded in works by two of its Secretaries. Sir Frederic Kenyon’s slim but useful volume of 37 pages covers the years up to 1951; Sir Mortimer Wheeler’s characteristically incisive, amusing and informative volume covers the years 1949 to 1968.
Fellowship
Election as a Fellow of the British Academy recognises high scholarly distinction in some branch of the humanities or social sciences, evidenced by published work. Fellows may use the letters FBA after their names.
Presidents of the British Academy, 1902–present
The Lord Reay 1902–1907
Sir Edward Maunde Thompson 1907–1909
Samuel Henry Butcher 1909–1910
Sir Adolphus Ward 1911–1913
The Viscount Bryce 1913–1917
Sir Frederic Kenyon 1917–1921
The Earl of Balfour 1921–1928
H. A. L. Fisher 1928–1932
John William Mackail 1932–1936
Sir David Ross 1936–1940
Sir J. H. Clapham 1940–1946
Sir Idris Bell 1946–1950
Sir Charles Kingsley Webster 1950–1954
Sir George Norman Clark 1954–1958
Sir Maurice Bowra 1958–1962
The Lord Robbins 1962–1967
Sir Kenneth Clinton Wheare 1967–1971
Sir Denys Lionel Page 1971–1974
Sir Isaiah Berlin 1974–1978
Sir Kenneth James Dover 1978–1981
The Revd Owen Chadwick 1981–1985
Sir Randolph Quirk 1985–1989
Sir Anthony Kenny 1989–1993
Sir Keith Thomas 1993–1997
Sir Tony Wrigley 1997–2001
The Viscount Runciman of Doxford 2001–2004
The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve 2005–2009
Sir Adam Roberts 2009–
Secretaries of the British Academy, 1902–present
Sir Israel Gollancz (1902-1930)
Sir Frederic G. Kenyon GBE, KCB (1930-1949)
Sir R. E. Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC (1949-1968)
Mr Derek Allen, CB (1969-1973)
Dr N. J. Williams (1973-1977)
Mr J. P. Carswell, CB (1978-1983)
Mr P. W. H. Brown, CBE (1983-2006)
Dr Robin Jackson (2006-present)
Publication series
Proceedings of the British Academy
British Academy Review
British Academy Occasional Papers
Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Monographs
Anglo-Saxon Charters
Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi
Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture
Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani
Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum
Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi
Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources
Early English Church Music
English Episcopal Acta
Fontes Historiae Africanae
Records of Social and Economic History
Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum
Award of prizes
The British Academy awards 12 annual Prizes and Medals:
Derek Allen Prize for numismatics, Celtic studies and musicology
Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies]
Grahame Clark Medal - for prehistoric archaeology
John Coles Medal for Landscape Archaeology
Rose Mary Crawshay Prize - for historical or critical works concerned with English literature
Sir Israel Gollancz Prize - for published work of sufficient value on subjects connected with Anglo-Saxon, Early English Language and Literature, English Philology, or the History of English Language; or for original investigations connected with the history of English Literature or the works of English writers
Kenyon Medal for Classical Studies - for work relating to classical literature or archaeology
Leverhulme Medal - for humanities and social sciences
Serena Medal - for services towards the furtherance of the study of Italian history, literature, art or economics
The Peter Townsend Policy Press Prize - for outstanding work with policy relevance on a topic to which Professor Peter Townsend made a major contribution - poverty and inequality, ageing and the lives of older people, disability and inequalities in health
The Wiley Prize in Psychology
President's Medal - for signal service to the humanities and social sciences
See also
:Category:Fellows of the British Academy
Royal Society
References
External links
The British Academy
The British Academy research resources portal
Category:Organisations based in the United Kingdom
Category:National academies of arts and humanities
Category:1902 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Organizations established in 1902
Category:Charities based in England
