At LSE, you will have the chance to study a broad range of subjects; some of them you may have studied in school, some will be new to you. At one end of the spectrum are subjects you might consider 'arts' subjects like history, at the other end you will find mathematics and related subjects; some subjects have a direct vocational or professional link, like law or actuarial science. All are a useful intellectual training in different approaches to social questions.
In this prospectus, each subject has its own section describing the degrees and
courses available.
The School offers a unique opportunity to study the social sciences in a university institution with a worldwide academic reputation, while enjoying the cultural, social and recreational facilities of one of the world's great capital cities. Many influential developments in thinking about society, economics and politics have originated in work carried out at the School, including the basis of the modern welfare state and the development of free-market economics.
What we study
LSE seeks to promote the impartial pursuit of knowledge and understanding about how people organise themselves into, and interact within, social groupings. The social sciences offer a number of ways of investigating and thinking about these questions: they do not teach you a 'right' (or left, or centre!) way to solve the world's problems. The focus of our teaching is on helping you to learn some of the different ways to test your - and other people's - ideas: and, in the words of our motto rerum cognoscere causas, 'to understand the causes of things'. In most of our degrees, we expect students to take at least one course in a subject outside their particular specialism.
The School offers courses not only in economics and political science, but also in a wide range of social science subjects, taught within a number of departments and interdisciplinary institutes. It is the only university in the UK specialising in the study of the social sciences, and has a worldwide reputation in the field. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise has rated the majority of the School's departments and institutes in its top two categories of excellence for research; departments have achieved outstanding results in the HEFCE/QAA teaching quality assessment/subject review exercises; and a range of independent and authoritative assessments have judged the School to be among the world's leading institutions for study of the social sciences.
Several subjects have been pioneered at LSE (eg, anthropology, international relations and social policy). Many past and present members of staff act as expert advisers to political parties, the Civil Service and policy pressure groups such as Professor David Metcalf, chair of the independent UK Migration Advisory Committee. Emeritus Professor Lord Desai is a regular speaker in House of Lords debates and Emeritus Professor Lord Wallace is a front bench spokesman on international affairs. Emeritus Professor Lord Layard, founder of the Centre for Economic Performance, is a prominent expert on happiness and well being. Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International and UN Special Representative for Migration and Development, is chairman of LSE.
The School's international reputation and London location ensure that in times of crisis it is to LSE that the media turn first for a response. LSE director Howard Davies is a regular contributor to national and international media on the economy, financial markets and regulation. Professor Nicholas Stern (climate change), Professor Conor Gearty (human rights), Professor David Held (globalisation), Professor Dominic Lieven (Russia), Professor Anne Power (housing policy), Professor Tony Travers (London and local government) and Professor Danny Quah (the weightless economy) will all be familiar names to the average news addict.
LSE100 - understanding the causes of things
LSE is a unique institution with a distinctive teaching programme. A new element of this is LSE100, which from 2010 onwards is a compulsory course for all undergraduate students|.
Why choose LSE?
The School's location in central London is fundamental to its identity. When you choose to be an undergraduate at LSE, you are choosing not only a course of study, but a place to live and work for three years. LSE looks out over the London skyline, rather than over green fields. It is stimulating, cosmopolitan and very much a part of the 'real world'.
These qualities derive from the variety of its staff and students (about half our undergraduate students come from outside Britain, and about half the student body are postgraduates), from its active academic debate on current social, economic and political concerns, and from the easy interchange of ideas between the School and the world outside. Government, Parliament, the business and financial institutions of the City, the Law Courts and the media are all on the School's doorstep. Each year, there are many influential outside speakers at the School (politicians, business leaders and industrialists) as well as leading academics from all around the world who visit to participate in teaching, to give public lectures and to pursue their own research. LSE is compact and full to the brim with students and staff - this just contributes to the vitality and friendliness of the place.
LSE offers you the opportunity - and the challenge - to study different ways of understanding human society together with people from all parts of the world, with radically differing experiences, views and beliefs, in an atmosphere that encourages you to question ideas and to seek solutions to problems. If you welcome the stimulus of new experiences and ideas in a lively capital city - then choose LSE.