About us
The Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities (BIH) was established by Professor Costas Douzinas in 2004 to stimulate research, public debate and collaboration among academics and intellectuals on important public issues of our time.
Now under the directorship of Professor Esther Leslie and Professor Jacqueline Rose, the BIH continues to support interdisciplinary research and engagement among colleagues across Birkbeck, University of London and beyond, and regularly collaborates with UK-based and international academics, researchers and activists.
Key to our mission is the promotion of new ideas and forms of understanding in the humanities and beyond. To facilitate this, the Institute organises and supports lectures, conferences, discussion panels, masterclasses and film screenings. Many of these are free and open to the public - check our events calendar for details.
We also provide short-term fellowships for a small number of scholars from Britain and overseas, who wish to collaborate with colleagues at Birkbeck. These are chosen yearly through an open competition.
Each year, the BIH holds its internationally renowned London Critical Theory Summer School. This two-week course provides a unique opportunity for graduate students and academics to follow a course of study with internationally renowned critical thinkers. Past tutors have included: Etienne Balibar, Susan Buck-Morss, Drucilla Cornell, Costas Douzinas, Stephen Frosh, David Harvey, Esther Leslie, Laura Mulvey, Jacqueline Rose and Slavoj Žižek. Bursaries are available for international and Birkbeck students.
OUR TEAM
Below you will find the details of the people who currently contribute to the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities. Professor Slavoj Žižek was International Director of the BIH until mid-September 2025.
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BIH PERSONNEL
- Professor Jacqueline Rose, Co-Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
- Professor Esther Leslie, Co-Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
- Professor Costas Douzinas, Founding Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
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BIH STEERING GROUP
- Dr Jasmine Bhatia, Senior Lecturer in Politics
- Professor Almuth McDowall, Professor of Organisational Psychology
- Professor Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Professor of Human Rights and Political Philosophy
- Professor Sarah Lamble, Professor of Criminology and Queer Theory
- Professor Esther Leslie, Professor of Political Aesthetics, Co-Director of BIH
- Professor Elena Loizidou, Professor of Law and Political Theory
- Professor Silvia Posocco, Professor of Social Anthropology
- Dr Joseph John Viscomi, Senior Lecturer in European History
- Dr Amber Jacobs, Head of School of Historical Studies, Humanities and Social Sciences Central; Reader in Psychosocial Studies
- Professor Jacqueline Rose, Professor of Humanities, Co-Director of BIH