The Department of General Literature and Science came into being in 1839 in response to the need for a greater differentiation of the syllabus for students of the Senior Department at King's College London. As its name suggests, it constituted a broad faculty or grouping of subjects and classes that provided a core liberal syllabus in the arts and sciences available to all students of King's, including Medical students. Principal subjects included English Literature, Theology, Modern History, Classics, Modern Languages and Mathematics, but later instruction covered subjects as diverse as Geology, Law, Political Economy and Oriental Languages. The division between General Literature and Science Departments, that took place in 1888, foreshadowed the replacement of General Literature by the new Faculty of Arts in 1893.
Instruction in French Literature and Language commenced with other teaching in the Senior Department at King's in 1831. It became part of the Department of General Literature and Science and later part of the Faculty of Arts in 1893 and School of Humanities in 1989. Courses encompass French language, history, literature, philosophy and most notably, romance philology from 1902 .The department also contributes to the interdisciplinary European Studies BA.
Courses in English Literature and History were provided in the Senior Department at King's College from 1831 and shortly afterwards became part of the Department of General Literature and Science. English and History were separated in 1855, when classes in English Language and Literature became available. A Department of English was formed in 1922/23, remaining part of the Faculty of Arts until the School of Humanities was created in 1989.
Classes in the Greek and Latin Classics were provided from 1831 as part of the core curriculum of the Senior Department. Classics soon after became part of the new Department of General Literature and Science, the Faculty of Arts in 1893, and the School of Humanities in 1989. Its staff also contribute to the teaching and work of the Centre for Hellenic Studies, established in 1989.
The Department was established in 1980, following the reunification of the theological and secular parts of King's College and the consequent reorganisation of the teaching of theology at King's. It was absorbed back into the Department of Theology and Religious Studies when Theology became part of the School of Humanities in 1989.
Chemistry has been taught at King's College since 1831, when John Frederic Daniell was appointed the first Professor of Chemistry. A chair of Practical Chemistry was also endowed in 1851 but lapsed when it was combined with the chair of Chemistry in 1870 under Charles Loudon Bloxam. It formed part of the Medical Department but instruction was also provided in the Department of Applied Sciences and in Evening Classes. Chemistry became part of the Faculty of Science in 1893, the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences in 1986, and the School of Physical Sciences and Engineering in 1991. Classes in chemical engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences commenced in 1930, while biochemistry classes formed part of instruction in physiology in the Faculty of Medicine before becoming a discreet department in 1958.
The Modern Greek Department was established in 1919, when the Koraes Chair was inaugurated following a subscription campaign and a grant from the Greek Government, and named in honour of Adamantios Koraes (1748-1833), the scholar and advocate of Greek national independence. The Department became known as the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies in 1972, and since 1989 has been part of the School of Humanities.
Botany has been taught at King's from 1831 and was part of the Department of General Literature and Science, and also the Evening Class Department from 1861. Lessons in Botany and Practical Biology became available for Medical Department students during the 1880s. Botany and Vegetable/Plant Biology was principally part of the Natural Science Division of the Faculty of Science from 1893, though instruction also continued for students of the Medical Division. It was incorporated into the School of Biological Studies, formed in 1964, that also comprised the departments of Biochemistry, Biophysics, Physiology, and Zoology and Animal Biology. This prevailed until the merger in 1985, when Botany/Plant Sciences was absorbed within an enlarged Department of Biology, itself part of the Faculty of Life Sciences, and, from 1989, successively part of the Biosphere and Life Sciences Divisions of the School of Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences. Since 1998 it has been part of the Division of Life Sciences in the School of Health and Life Sciences.
A School of Biological Sciences was formed at King's in 1964 in order to coordinate the efforts of biology-related departments in both the Faculties of Medicine and Natural Science, namely Biochemistry, Biophysics, Botany, Physiology, and Zoology and Animal Biology. The first Professor of Biology was Emmeline Jean Hanson, appointed in 1966, but a unified Department of Biology only emerged following the tripartite merger of King's, Queen Elizabeth and Chelsea Colleges in 1985. The department was part of the Faculty of Life Sciences, and from 1991, successively part of the Biosphere and Life Sciences Divisions of the School of Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences. Following the reorganisation of 1998, aspects of the teaching of biology were divided between the School of Health and Life Sciences and the School of Biomedical Sciences.
Biochemistry formed part of the Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry and Histology in the Faculty of Medicine from 1925. This changed its name to the Department of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology in 1937. Biochemistry became a discreet department in 1958 and was incorporated into the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences in King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1983, the Faculty of Science in 1985, the Faculty of Life Sciences, 1986, and the School of Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences in 1989. It now forms part of the Division of Life Sciences within the School of Health and Life Sciences.
Anatomy classes were first taught in the Medical Department of King's from 1831. This department became the Faculty of Medicine in 1892, and from 1905 was known as the Medical Division, which formed part of the Faculty of Science. The Faculty of Medical Science was created in 1921 and two years later the Department of Anatomy was formed within it. Anatomy and Anthropology were also taught under the Faculty of Natural Science. After the merger of King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry with King's College Medical School in 1983 the Faculty of Medical Science became known as the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences. From 1985 the Anatomy Department was called Anatomy and Human Biology, and in 1989 it became part of the Biomedical Sciences Division under the School of Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences. The department is now known as the Division of Anatomy, Cell and Human Biology, and is part of the GKT (Guy's, King's and St Thomas') School of Biomedical Sciences formed in 1998 from the Biomedical Sciences and the Basic Medical Sciences Divisions at UMDS (United Dental and Medical Schools).
The Dean has exercised a central pastoral function within King's College since the reorganisation that took place following the King's College London (Transfer) Act of 1908. This incorporated King's into the University of London and legally separated the Theological Department from the secular component of King's. The position of Dean was created as the head of the theological King's College London, although he also exercised pastoral responsibility in the secular University of London, King's College. The office was temporarily combined with that of Principal under Arthur Headlam until 1913, when they were separated. The Dean has always been an ordained minister elected by the Council and responsible for the spiritual welfare of students and staff. For most of this period he also undertook the supervision of potential ordinands for the Church of England, but this ceased shortly before the reunification of the two halves of King's, which was completed in 1980. The Dean's office continues to undertake pastoral duties, to run the Chaplaincy and College Choir, and to administer the Associateship of King's College (AKC) programme.
The Department for the Training of Teachers was established under John William Adamson in 1890. In 1896 it was split into two sections: the Day Training College for those intending to teach in elementary schools, and the Department for Secondary Training. These were amalgamated in 1922 to form the Education Department, part of the Faculty of Arts. This became the Faculty of Education in 1968, which merged with the Chelsea College Centre for Science and Mathematics Education in 1985 to create the current School of Education.
The Department for the Training of Teachers was established under John William Adamson in 1890. In 1896 it was split into two sections: the Day Training College for those intending to teach in elementary schools, and the Department for Secondary Training. These were amalgamated in 1922 to form the Education Department, part of the Faculty of Arts. This became the Faculty of Education in 1968, which merged with the Chelsea College Centre for Science and Mathematics Education in 1985 to create the current School of Education.
The Council was the principal governing body of King's College London between its foundation in 1829 and the reorganisation of King's that took place with the King's College London (Transfer) Act of 1908. This both incorporated King's into the University of London (thereafter redesignated as University of London, King's College), and legally separated the Theological Faculty, which retained subscription to the 39 Articles for academic staff and continued to be known as King's College London. The Council remained exclusively as the governing body of the Theological Faculty with additional pastoral responsibility for students and staff of both Colleges, but the government of the secular University of London, King's College, was transferred to a new Delegacy established in February 1910. Both Council and Delegacy also maintained separate Professorial Board, Finance and other committees. Following the reunification of the Colleges by Royal Charter in 1980, responsibility for the government of the whole College was returned to the Council.
The Centre for Medical Law and Ethics, part of the School of Law, was opened in 1978 to undertake research, organise teaching and publish papers concerning issues in medicine involving law and ethics. It draws on the expertise of staff in numerous schools and departments including medicine and theology and offers undergraduate course units and an MA and Diploma programme. The Living Wills Working Party was set up between the Centre and the charity, Age Concern, in 1985, as an early exercise in methodological appraisal of the subject and comprised a forerunner to the Living Wills Project run by the Centre and the AIDS charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust, to measure and evaluate the demand for advanced legal directives and powers of attorney pertaining to medical treatment of terminally or chronically-ill patients.
The Centre for Medical Law and Ethics, part of the School of Law, was opened in 1978 to undertake research, organise teaching and publish papers concerning issues in medicine involving law and ethics. It draws on the expertise of staff in numerous schools and departments including medicine and theology and offers undergraduate course units and an MA and Diploma programme. Teaching is also provided to students in related programmes in the School of Medicine including the MSc in Palliative Care, while the Centre publishes occasional papers and the periodical, Medical law review.
King's College London Association of University Teachers, which originated in 1917 and had over 850 members in 2001, is the trade union recognised by King's College London to represent academic and related staff. It is part of the national Association of University Teachers, a trade union and professional association which negotiates salaries and conditions of employment for members, represents their views on professional matters in higher education, and provides advice and other services.
Queen Elizabeth College, so called from 1953, succeeded the Home Science and Economics classes of King's College Women's Department and King's College for Women, which started in 1908; the Household and Social Science Department of King's College for Women, which opened in 1915; and King's College of Household and Social Science, which operated from 1928. A Vice-Principal headed King's College Women's Department; a Warden led King's College for Women, the Department of Household and Social Science and, until 1945, King's College of Household and Social Science. After 1945 the head was known as the Principal. The amalgamation of Queen Elizabeth College with King's College London and Chelsea College was completed in 1985.
Queen Elizabeth College has its origins in the lectures for Ladies first arranged in 1878 by King's College London, and a formalised Ladies Department was founded in 1881. The King's College London (Transfer) Act of 1908 led to the establishment of the college as King's College for Women, governed by a Delegacy of the University of London. In 1915, all the departments excepting the Household and Social Science Department amalgamated with King's College, and in 1928 the department became a School of the University of London as King's College of Household and Social Science. In 1953 the College was granted a new charter as Queen Elizabeth College, and in 1985 merged with King's College London and Chelsea College. Following the merger the personnel functions of all three colleges were integrated in a single department which took responsibility for the staff and reported to the College Secretary.
Queen Elizabeth College had its origins in the Ladies' (later Women's) Department of King's College London, opened in Kensington in 1885, later King's College for Women. Home Science and Economics classes started in 1908. In 1915 the Household and Social Science Department of King's College for Women opened at Campden Hill, Kensington, while other departments were amalgamated with King's College on the Strand site. In 1928 the department became completely independent as King's College of Household and Social Science and the title King's College for Women was extinguished. The buildings were completed in 1930. The College had a pioneering role in establishing nutritional science as a subject of academic scholarship and John Yudkin was a Professor from 1945 to 1971. A Royal Charter was granted in 1953, the name changed to Queen Elizabeth College, men were admitted, and the existing degree was replaced with BSc (Nutrition) and BSc (Household Science). Recognition as a School of the University of London in the Faculty of Science was granted in 1956. The BSc (General) began in 1957. Following financial difficulties the amalgamation of the College with King's College London and Chelsea College was completed in 1985.
A library existed from the earliest days of the Ladies Department of King's College London in Kensington Square. It was enlarged on the creation of King's College for Women, and in the later Household and Social Science Department at Campden Hill. It was bombed during the Second World War and some 3000 volumes were salvaged from the ruins and these formed the nucleus of the post-war Library. These were deposited in a main, general, library, and in subject-specific departmental collections. Following the opening of the Atkins Buildings extension during the 1960s, the main Library was housed in two separate buildings on site: the Sargeaunt and Burton libraries. Their capacity was strictly limited, however, and a new purpose built library was proposed during the 1970s. This plan was dropped when merger negotiations between Queen Elizabeth and King's College commenced shortly afterwards. The Queen Elizabeth Library was eventually combined with the King's Library holdings from 1985 onwards.
Following the amalgamation of most of the departments of King's College for Women with King's College London as a co-educational institution in 1915, the King's College London student body admitted women to the students' union and a common room was allotted to them. To some degree their social life was distinct. The female staff also had a common room. In 1972 arrangements were made to amalgamate the Women's Senior or Staff Common Room with the Joint Senior Common Room and the Men's Common Room by an interim Common Room committee.
Nineteenth-century student societies at King's College London included an Athletic Club, formed in 1884. In 1905 the College's Union Society was reformed to obtain common rooms, form a college debating society and gymnastic and other clubs, and provide entertainments. In 1908 it was reorganised, taking over the Athletic Club and all social activities of the College, and from 1919 it developed rapidly in size and organization. The modern Union represents the student body, supports sports clubs and other societies, and offers facilities including bars, entertainments, and welfare advice.
The Staff Social Club, founded before 1948, organised social events for staff of King's College London.
Junior Year Abroad refers to the programme for undergraduate exchange students, mainly from Beaver College, Pennsylvania State University, USA, who study for a year at King's. The majority of students study English or Music.
No information at present.
The Registry is responsible for the organisation and audit of academic and educational provision throughout the College, most notably in overseeing examinations and academic assessment exercises, and by way of organising ceremonies and graduations. Recently, the Registry has become a sub-section of the Office of the College Secretary and Registrar that has responsibility for servicing the Council, its main standing and special committees, and the Academic Board.
The Library at King's College was established in 1831 and at first comprised a General Library of mainly common reference works on science, law, literature and theology, which was located next to the College Chapel. A separate Medical Library was also established which was only accessible to medical students. During the course of time, semi-autonomous subject or departmental libraries grew up located close to their relevant departments, particularly in the arts and humanities, containing less general and more specific subject titles. These, however, remained under the overall responsibility of the College Librarian. The General Library was augmented from time to time by major bequests and gifts, such as that made by William Marsden in 1835; some of Marsden’s books were later transferred to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies (SSEES) as part of a University of London-wide library re-organisation (King’s received books from the former library of the London Institution in exchange). An important bequest was made by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1875, and these additions at first remained discrete named collections occupying their own space within the College Library. Total holdings in the General Library were approximately 50,000 by 1958, with 90,000 in the subject or departmental libraries. By 1970, this had grown to 275,000 books in total. Shortage of space was temporarily alleviated with the relocation of a number of libraries to the new Strand Building when it was opened during the 1970s, a period during which individual departmental collections were integrated (exceptions included the Music Library). The merger of King's with Chelsea and Queen Elizabeth Colleges in 1985, added further library space, particularly at Manresa Road in Chelsea, at which was also located the College's Rare Books and Special Collections until the closure of the Chelsea campus, when it was moved to the College's Hampstead site. The merger of King's with the United Medical and Dental Schools (UMDS) in 1998 further added to the Library's holdings of medical books, while its traditional strength in theological literature was enhanced considerably by the acquisition in 1996 of the 65,000 book and journal Sion College Library. The purchase of the leasehold on the former Public Record Office building in Chancery Lane from 2001 allowed for the bringing together under one roof of the Old Library, Embankment, Humanities, Music and Special Collections libraries. These are focused on the humanities, including music, law and the physical sciences and engineering. South of the River, the Franklin-Wilkins Library caters for medical, nursing and midwifery students and students of the biological sciences, management and education. The libraries at Denmark Hill concentrate on medicine, social policy, mental health and health care policy, and those at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals on the teaching of medicine in general. The Library is now part of the division of Information Services and Systems (ISS) which also includes Computing and Information Technology and Archive Services. The latter includes the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, which was founded in 1964 and which built upon the College's reputation in the field of Military and War Studies.
Supported by G C W Warr, Professor of Classics at King's College London, and the Principal Alfred Barry, from 1878 lectures for ladies were held in the old town hall in Kensington. Attendance outgrew the lecture rooms, which in 1879 were moved to a house in Observatory Avenue, Kensington. From 1881 moves were made to found a ladies' department of King's College based on this initiative, with the necessary statutory powers obtained by an Act of Parliament which received the royal assent in 1882. The Ladies' Department was inaugurated in 1885 at no 13 Kensington Square. It was to be administered, under the Council of King's College, by an executive committee. The principal of King's College was head of the department, with a lady superintendent (from 1891 known as the vice principal) as his deputy in Kensington Square. The department's function at this period was not to prepare its students for definite professional careers, but to give them a taste of a liberal education. Under Lilian Faithfull as vice-principal (1894-1907) the department developed the character of a university college. In 1898 the application for the admission of women to the King's College associateship was granted by the Council. From 1902 the department was known as the Women's Department, and students took examinations for London University degrees and Oxford or Cambridge diplomas. A movement for university education in home science, although controversial among educationists, resulted in courses beginning in 1908. At that period the policy of the department, with the concurrence of the Delegacy of King's College and the Senate of the University, was to establish on a new site in Kensington a complete university college for women. Under the King's College London Transfer Act (1908), in 1910 the Women's Department was incorporated in the University of London with a distinct existence as King's College for Women. Owing to pressure on space from increasing numbers, nos 11 and 12 Kensington Square were added to the College's premises in 1911-1912. In 1913 a special delegacy for King's College for Women was constituted by the Senate of the University of London. However, in 1913 the Haldane report of the Royal Commission on the University of London unexpectedly recommended that the Home Science Department alone should be developed in Kensington. On a new site at Campden Hill, Kensington (the Blundell Hall estate), originally intended for the whole of King's College for Women, buildings for the Household and Social Science Department (after 1928 King's College for Household and Social Science) were begun in 1914 and went into use in 1915. The conversion of King's College to a co-educational institution by the absorption of King's College for Women was agreed in 1914 and the arts and science departments moved from Kensington Square to the Strand in January 1915. King's College for Women in the Strand remained constitutionally a separate legal entity, since the Transfer Act of 1908 could only be altered by Act of Parliament, but for all practical purposes King's College for Women became an integral part of King's College. The number of women students began to increase rapidly and in 1921 King's College Hostel for Women opened in Bayswater, subsequently expanded from time to time by taking in adjoining houses.
King's College London Ladies Club, founded in 1970 for female members of staff and wives of members of staff, aimed to promote social contact and provide a meeting place.
The Joint Senior Common Room was established in 1957 to provide a social centre for male and female academic and related staff of King's College London.
The Befriending Project was established in 1991 by Professor George Brown and Dr Tirril Harris, based at the Psychological Medicine and Psychiatry Department of the Institute of Psychiatry, later part of King's College London. This was a randomised controlled trial, comprising two stages. The project investigated whether befriending could improve remission rates from chronic depression.
The first stage of the project comprised interviews; the sample patients were divided into three groups and given ID numbers; these were: the intervention group containing 60 patients, the control group containing 60 patients and a group of 56 volunteer befrienders.
During the second stage of the project those in the control group, who had been followed up and found not to have recovered, were offered befriending and many accepted. These patients were given a second ID number and formed part of the second stage intervention group; new participants and new control group members joined the project at this stage.
Professor George Brown's teams used psychosocial measures originally developed to explain the onset of depressive episodes, factors which might also perpetuate disorder, including the LEDS (Life Events and Difficulties Schedule) with SLEDS (Shortened Life Events and Difficulties Schedule), Professor George Brown and Dr Tirril Harris, 1978; the SESS (Self Evaluation and Social Support Schedule), Brown et al, 1986, 1990; the COPI (Coping with Severe Events and Difficulties Interview), Professor Antonia Bifulco and Brown, 1996; the CECA (Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse) with MINICECA, Bifulco, Brown and Harris, 1994; the ASI (Attachment Style Interview) Bifulco et al, 2002 with the Bedford College version of the SCAN (Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry), Professor John Wing et al, 1990. The project spanned four years.
The Twins' Early Development Study (TEDS) was established in 1994 with the support of the Medical Research Council (MRC) and is based at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre of the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. It was set up to investigate the development of three common psychological problems in children: communication disorders, mild mental impairment and behaviour problems, using sets of twins to test the relative importance of environmental and genetic causation in determining their onset, with autism as a main line of enquiry. Studies also include the process of skill development such as language skills and story telling. The project comprises initial and yearly follow-up face to face and telephone interviews and written responses taken from around 16,000 pairs of twins born in England and Wales between 1994 and 1996 and their parents and teachers, and more lengthy and detailed responses from the parents of those children who developed problems.
The twins were identified and located by the Office for National Statistics, which manages the principal name list. This data has been combined with genetic sampling to gauge the contribution of inheritance to language and cognitive development. The study is one of the largest of its kind in the world and also comprises a number of working groups using samples of raw data from smaller cohorts to analyse specific aspects of the behavioural development of young children. Notably, groups are investigating the influence of other siblings in the twins' home lives and on `Environmental Risk' factors in child development.
Queen Elizabeth College, which came into being with the granting of a Royal Charter in 1953, succeeded the Home Science and Economics classes of King's College Women's Department and King's College for Women, which started in 1908; the Household and Social Science Department of King's College for Women, which opened in 1915; and King's College of Household and Social Science, which operated from 1928. The amalgamation of the College with King's College London and Chelsea College was completed in 1985.
`Nursing in Colorectal Cancer Initiative Project' (NICCI) a European Oncology Nursing Society's (EONS) study led by Professor Alison Richardson based at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery at King's College London and sponsored by Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. The project was a study of health professional practice in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA and was designed to improve nursing for colorectal cancer patients by improving education, and reviewing the role of nurses by examining nurse communication, the involvement of patients and families in treatment and care, and successful delivery of chemotherapy. The project was made up of three phases: education, research and implementation. The first phase involved producing and reviewing an education pack for nurses dealing with colorectal cancer patients. The second phase involved defining the goals of nursing practice and carrying out an audit in the participating countries on current practices and areas for change. The final phase involved implementing the necessary changes identified in the initial two stages. NICCI produced an educational pack for nurses printed in six languages and a clinically researched tool for auditing the standards of nursing care for colorectal cancer. This tool is also translated and disseminated through the nursing network. The project ran from 1998-2001.
Publications: A Nurse's Guide to Colorectal Cancer, NICCI/AstraZeneca Oncology (2000).
The Parkside Project aimed to critically analyse the needs assessment process made by health visitors and to determine whether this process aided health promotion in families. It was a small exploratory study conducted over the period Jan 2000-Mar 2001, based at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwidfery at King's College London and was led by Sarah Cowley, Professor of Community Practise Development. The data for the project was collected through interviews with health visitors and clients in Parkside NHS Trust. 25 health visitors took part in a semi-structured telephone interview. 4 were selected to be observed on visits made to 3 contrasting families chosen by the health visiters. Following observation, in-depth interviews were conducted with the 4 health visiters and the 12 families. The full project title is `An exploration of the extent to which the health visitor assessment process in Parkside NHS Trust promotes the health of the families involved'.
The Faculty of Science was originally founded in 1893, and evolved into the Division of Natural Science, which became the Faculty of Natural Science in 1923. The faculty was eventually closed in 1985 and its constituent departments and successors now fall mainly under the School of Physical Sciences and Engineering and the School of Life and Health Sciences.
The Faculty of Arts was established in 1893 from what was the General Literature Department. After the merger with Chelsea and Queen Elizabeth College in 1985, it was known as the Faculty of Arts and Music. It then became the School of Humanities in 1989. The academic departments currently comprised within the School are: Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies, Classics, English and Palaeography, English Language Centre, European Studies, French, German, History, Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, Modern Language Centre, Music, Philosophy, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Spanish & Spanish-American Studies, Theology and Religious Studies, and Mediterranean Studies. The departments of War Studies and Geography also formed part of the Faculty and School until 2001 when they were incorporated into a new School of Social Science and Public Policy.
Department of Civil Engineering and Mining established at King's College London, 1838, and Engineering Society, 1847; begins reading of papers that average 12-20 a year on subjects including early photography, modern manufacturing methods, and in particular on bridges, tunnels, railways and other civil engineering projects, 1847; Society changes its name to King's College Scientific Society, 1854; Society dissolved, 1855; re-established as the Engineering Society by Professor Thomas Minchin Goodeve, 1857; increasing popularity and importance of the Society from around 1870; members during this period include Llewellyn Atkinson and Charles Henry Wordingham, each subsequently President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers; regular instructional works visits to engineering sites commence, 1886; occasional exhibitions begin, 1894; first annual dinner, 1895; lunch time debates initiated from [1906]; Old Students Section of the Engineering Society formed, 1919; first edition of The King's engineer, 1921-1922; relocation of Society with College to Bristol, 1939-1943; centenary celebrations, 1947; Society still active, 2001.
Physiotherapy provision was available at King's College Hospital and later academic instruction was devolved to the Centre for Physiotherapy Research under the Department of Physiology. The Physiotherapy Department was formed in 1989, part of the Biomedical Sciences Division of the School of Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences, to become one of the first academic departments of Physiotherapy in England. In 1998 a Division of Physiotherapy was formed, part of the School of Biomedical Sciences, itself the product of the merger of the Biomedical Sciences Division at King's and the Basic Medical Sciences Division at UMDS (United Medical and Dental Schools). The Centre for Physiotherapy Research carried out various research projects, including the The Role for Physiotherapy in the Care of Adults with Learning Difficulties (Mental Handicap) study. The study surveyed physiotherapists to gain a national picture of physiotherapy services for adults with learning difficulties.
Physiotherapy provision was available at King's College Hospital and later academic instruction was devolved to the Centre for Physiotherapy Research under the Department of Physiology. The Physiotherapy Department was formed in 1989, part of the Biomedical Sciences Division of the School of Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences, to become one of the first academic departments of Physiotherapy in England. In 1998 a Division of Physiotherapy was formed, part of the School of Biomedical Sciences, itself the product of the merger of the Biomedical Sciences Division at King's and the Basic Medical Sciences Division at UMDS (United Medical and Dental Schools). The Centre for Physiotherapy Research carried out a series of national surveys under the auspices of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy due to concerns about safety of physiotherapy equipment. The first survey in 1986 examined Health Authorities; the second in 1987, private practioners. The second survey covered equipment owned by one-in-ten of the members of the Organisation of Chartered Physiotherapists in Private Practices, (OCPPP). In 1989 a follow-up survey was carried out to research the electrotherapy equipment bought and discarded by the physiotherapy practitioners, surveyed in the orginal survey, from 1987-1989.
A department of Military Science existed from 1848-1859. Military Science was subsequently approved as a subject for the BA and BSc general degrees from 1913, and was taught under the Faculty of Arts and also the Faculty of Engineering. The Military Studies Department was established in 1926 and formed part of the Faculty of Arts. It became known as the War Studies Department in 1943 and was discontinued in 1948, although the subject continued to be taught under the Department of Medieval and Modern History. The Department was then reinstated in 1962 to offer postgraduate courses. A BA degree in War Studies was offered from 1992 onwards. The department became part of the School of Humanities in 1989 and the School of Social Science and Public Policy in 2001.
Spanish was taught at King's College from 1831, initially as a course in the Senior Department and then the Department of General Literature and Science, then as a Faculty of Arts course until 1923/4, when it became recognised in its own right as the Spanish Studies Department. In 1973, the department changed its title to the Spanish and Spanish-American Studies Department in recognition of a broadening Latin American syllabus, and has been part of the School of Humanities since 1989.
Instruction in physics began in 1831 in the form of lectures in natural and experimental philosophy delivered to students in the Senior Department, from 1839 the Department of General Literature and Science and later the Department of Applied Sciences. Natural and experimental divisions were separated in 1834 when Charles Wheatstone was appointed Professor of Experimental Philosophy, a post he occupied until his death in 1875. Classes in natural philosophy were available to Evening Class students and students of the Medical Faculty and Faculty of Engineering, but the Physics Department properly became part of the Faculty of Science in 1893. In 1923 Physics became part of the Faculty of Natural Science, which later formed part of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. This became the School of Physical Sciences and Engineering in 1991. Charles Wheatstone, responsible for pioneering experiments in the fields of electric telegraphy, batteries, harmonics and optics, upon his death bequeathed an extensive collection of scientific instruments and equipment to the College to form the Wheatstone Laboratory, one of the earliest physical laboratories in the country. Other notables include James Clerk Maxwell, pioneer in the study of electromagnetism, who was Professor of Natural Philosophy, 1860-1865; Charles Glover Barkla, Wheatstone Professor of Physics, 1909-1914, who whilst at the University of Edinburgh was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1917 for work on X-rays; Sir Owen Richardson, Wheatstone Professor of Physics, 1914-1922, awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1928 for prior work on thermionics undertaken at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge; Sir Edward Appleton, Wheatstone Professor of Physics, 1924-1936, who conducted experiments on the interaction of radio waves with the earth's atmosphere at the Strand and at the College's Halley Stewart Laboratories, Hampstead, for which he was subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947, whilst employed by the British Government's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research; and Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins, Deputy Director of the Medical Research Council Biophysics Research Unit, later the Department of Biophysics, King's College London, 1955, whose work on the structure of the DNA molecule was rewarded with the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1962.
Instruction in mental philosophy was provided with the appointment of a lecturer at King's in 1868. A chair in Logic and Moral Philosophy was created in 1877 occupied by the Rev Henry William Watkins, with classes available in both the Department of General Literature and Science, and the Theology Department. This changed its title to Logic and Mental Philosophy around 1891, then to Mental and Moral philosophy in 1903, classes that endured until 1906 when a department of Philosophy and Psychology came into being. The two subjects were separated in 1912 and Philosophy remained part of the Faculty of Arts until the reorganisation of 1989 when it became part of the School of Humanities.
A Department of Nutrition was established at Queen Elizabeth College in 1945, one of the first of its kind in Europe. The Department was transferred to King's in 1985 upon the merger of King's and Queen Elizabeth. It is now part of the Division of Health Sciences in the School of Life and Health Sciences. The Department and its staff have participated with government agencies such as the Department of Health and Social Security and the Medical Research Council, in a number of influential projects and studies to determine the relationship between socio-economic status, nutritional intake and the health of sections of the British population, most notably, pre, and school age, children. The Department has also undertaken independent surveys including of postmenopausal women and low income families.
The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at King's College London developed the Low Income Diet Methods Study in 2001. It was funded by the Food Standards Agency, as a result of growing concern about the diets of people on low incomes and primarily focused on the reasons inhibiting people from eating healthily. The research project compliments the National Diet and Nutrition Survey programme which collects information on the dietary habits and nutritional status of the UK population.
The study had three aims; to compare the effectiveness and acceptability of three dietary survey methods in a cross-section of people living on low income; to make recommendations regarding sampling techniques and dietary methodology appropriate for a pilot study and a national study of diet and low income; to investigate food consumption, eating patterns and nutrient intakes in low income households relating to deprivation indicators, food security measures and other household characteristics and circumstances. 411 respondents completed the study during 2001 and the results are based upon an analysis of 384 subjects in 240 households, including 159 males and 225 females aged 2-90 years, all being obese.
Dr Michael Nelson, senior lecturer at King's College London, was project director, assisted by staff including Dr Bridget Holmes. This project resulted in the publication of a report to the Food Standards Agency, Low income diet methods study, (2003).