2011 sees the 50th anniversary of the founding of Sussex – a great excuse for a celebration. Starting in September 2011, we will be holding a year-long series of events and activities that will recognise the University’s past, celebrate the 50-year milestone, and look to how we can play a significant role in the future of education and research.
Celebrations for the 50th anniversary get underway with a major event, ‘Back to your future’, on 10 and 11 September 2011. We will be welcoming alumni of all ages back to campus with free seminars and talks, departmental lunches, a boundary walk, a Charleston-style tea and talk, live bands, and more.
To mark the anniversary, there will be 50 fellowships endowed upon those associated with the University who have made distinguished contributions in any field or activity since its foundation. Additionally, six newly commissioned gold medals will be awarded to those associated with the University who have had the greatest global impact in each of Sussex’s research themes.
The Sussex Conversations will be insightful high-level discussions between eminent panellists on the key issues of our age, which resonate with the University’s six research themes. Panellists include Nobel prize winner Sir Harry Kroto, civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti, and politician Clare Short.
Sir Basil Spence’s architectural concept for the University reflected a new direction for higher education in the early 1960s, and did so with an extraordinary combination of innovative design and a respect for local, traditional building materials. An exhibition of his work will highlight the phases of development of the plan, public and press reaction, the early furnishing and use of the buildings, and the landscaping of the environs.
The University has an established relationship with Turner Prize winner and Sussex alumnus, Jeremy Deller. A multifaceted collaboration is being planned, with Jeremy acting as ‘artist in residence’ to create an exhibition around the University’s social history, and linking into projects he and Professor David Allan Mellor (Art History) are working on around the artist Bruce Lacey.
Professor Fred Gray has written a book celebrating Sussex, to be published in autumn 2011. It contains a chronology of significant events in the history of Sussex, a section on Sir Basil Spence’s architecture, and segments from some distinctive disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas.
The events will be as inclusive as possible, and there will be plenty of opportunities for everyone in the Sussex community to get involved in the celebrations.
Find out more at the Fifty years website.