Beveridge and the Uprising of British Universities against Hitler

Wednesday 20th March 2013, 7.30pm - 8.30pm

Alumni Theatre, New Academic Building, Lincoln's Inn Fields, LSE

Sir William Beveridge, former Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), was at the forefront in shaping British Universities’ response to Hitler’s assault on academic freedom and learning. Beveridge founded the Academic Assistance Council (AAC), later the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL), which worked to rescue displaced German scholars. While aiding academic refugees remained the focus of the council’s work, Beveridge directed the organization into taking a more activist stance, protesting against growing persecution in Germany and elsewhere. The SPSL’s work is continued today by CARA (the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics). It  remains one of  Beveridge’s most  important legacies.

Professor David Zimmerman is the Professor of Military History at the University of Victoria. Zimmerman was educated at the University of Toronto and the University of New Brunswick, and has been a member of the faculty of the University of Victoria since 1988. His books include: The Great Naval Battle of Ottawa, Top Secret Exchange: The Tizard Mission and the Scientific War; and Britain’s Shield: Radar and the Defeat of the Luftwaffe. He has published over twenty scholarly articles and book chapters. He is an expert on the history of anti-submarine warfare, radar, the Royal Canadian Navy, science and technology in war, and the rescue of academic refugees from Germany in the 1930s. 

LSE Scholars at Risk is a school-wide initiative co-ordinated from the Centre for the Study of Human Rights

RSVP: info.cara@lsbu.ac.uk

Maps can be found at: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/mapsAndDirections/campusMap.pdf


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