Virginia Woolf Building: we're in!

After many months of careful planning and preparation, eight of our departments and programmes successfully moved to the Virginia Woolf Building on Kingsway at the start of September.

Named after the writer, novelist and critic - then Virginia Stephen - who studied at the King’s Ladies’ Department in Kensington from 1897 to 1902, the newly refurbished building offers fantastic facilities for staff and students, with a mix of social and study areas alongside teaching rooms and offices.

Beyond simple facilities, however, the space has above all been designed to encourage greater levels of collaboration and communication throughout our departments and the School as a whole, and these efforts already appear to be paying dividends.

Dr Ben Schofield, Senior Lecturer in German, describes the 'palpable difference' the new accommodation has already made to the Department's working environment: 'Younger and older colleagues are able to mingle outside of formal structures like staff meetings, which sounds like a small

 step, but it leads instantly to a fundamental change in atmosphere, towards a greater level of community and collaboration.'

Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies PhD student Katie Brown was equally enthusiastic in a recent post to the Arts & Humanities Life blog: 'One of my favourite aspects of the PhD is getting to know other researchers and learning from them, so the daily contact with German postgraduates and staff opens a whole new world of research specialisms to fascinate me. We’ve only been moved in for a week, but I already feel like the new building will make this a very productive and enjoyable year!'

The departments which have now moved to the Virginia Woolf Building are: English Language & Literature, European & International Studies, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies and Theology & Religious Studies. The Comparative Literature and Middle East & Mediterranean Studies programmes have also relocated, as has the School Office. Full up-to-date contact details can be found on the Departmental quick contacts page.

More details about the move, and who to contact in the event of any issues, are available on the College intranet.