Albert Einstein said that “intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death”, and London is one of the greatest places in the world that provides an infinite pool of possibilities to open and expand your mind. Everyday there is a chance to learn new information about a great variety of subjects from notorious professors in physics, economics, politics, history and other academic fields that are rapidly evolving around us every day. In this article we wanted to share the hidden gem of British further education – Gresham College, which is often left unnoticed behind the more commonly known universes and colleges that offer degrees and courses to students from ll over the world, and unlike the latter is accessible to absolutely everyone disregarding your academic and financial background.
Gresham College has been providing free, public lectures in London since 1597 and has been one the first institutions of higher learning in London. Located at Barnard’s Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, it hosts over 140 public lectures every year. Although the College does not enrol students or award degrees, and did not become a part of the University of London, a close association between the college and university has persisted for many years. Today Gresham College regularly welcomes visiting speakers to deliver lectures on topics outside of its usual range, and also holds occasional seminars and conferences. Since 2001, the College provides online lectures that have been prerecorded and are released into an archive, which now consists of more than 2000 lectures. Additionally, the lectures are available on the College’s official YouTube channel.
Gresham College was found by Sir Thomas Gresham, the founder of Royal Exchange, to provide free public lectures to Londoners in English, which was going against the original concept of studying strictly in Latin at the time. Originally Gresham College followed a traditional curriculum of medieval university and endowed seven professorships: astronomy, divinity, geometry, law, music, physics and rhetoric. In the recent years three further professorships have been added: commerce in 1985, environment in 2014 and IT in 2015. Every professor holds their position for three years and is required to give six lectures a year. Notable professors of Gresham College include Christopher Wren – one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.
Attending lectures at Gresham College is completely free of charge is available to any interested person, however guests are expected to register on the website prior to attending. Lectures are normally held every weekday except for Friday, with sessions available at 1pm and 6pm. Every year Gresham College hosts a series of special lectures. This year’s special, the Gray’s Inn Reading is planed to be delivered on Thursday June 15th by Dame Siobhan Keegan and will be covering the legal topics of freedom and self-expression. This lecture and many others can be accessed online or attended live after registration on the College’s website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/.
