This year International Women’s Day (IWD) sees a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. International Women’s Day 2018 is particularly resonant for higher education in Britain because this year marks the 150th anniversary of women being permitted to higher education in the UK for the first time. In 1868, nine women were admitted to the University of London to enrol for a ‘special examination’ course, which was without precedent. The University of London ‘Leading Women’ campaign celebrates this through showcasing exceptional women and stories of women leading through their educational and professional achievements. As an independent college of the University of London, The Courtauld Institute of Art proudly forms part of this legacy and has a rich tradition of producing female leaders in the history of art and other spheres of society.
Anita Brookner (1928-2016)
Today we are celebrating one of our famous alumna and former members of faculty, Anita Brookner (1928-2016), who is being honoured as part of #LeadingWomen. Brookner was a leading art historian and the first woman to hold the Slade Professorship of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge from 1967 to 1968. She was also a prolific author who won The Man Booker Prize in 1984 for her novel Hotel du Lac. To find out more about Brookner and other exceptional women from colleges of the University of London, and for a fascinating wider timeline of developments in women’s education and rights in Britain visit:
https://london.ac.uk/anita-brookner
Much has been achieved but much remains to be done and The Courtauld Institute of Art will continue to #PressforProgress.