Event overview
Professor Alan Downie has announced his retirement from teaching and departmental duties here at Goldsmiths, ending a 39-year tenure at the College.
To celebrate Alan's contribution, the Warden would like to host an afternoon in his honour, with food and drink, music and speeches. The event is welcome to all but we ask you to register your attendance via the Eventbrite Link. Alan and the Warden look forward to seeing you there! A snapshot of Alan's time at Goldsmiths can be read below.
Alan Downie was appointed to Goldsmiths by Richard Hoggart in 1978, principally to teach Restoration and eighteenth-century English literature. He succeeded Stan Tottman as Head of the Department of English before becoming Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Professor of English during the rapid expansion in student numbers, which occurred after the College achieved school status in 1988 while Professor Andrew Rutherford was Warden. On the abolition of faculties in 1995 he was gradually given responsibility by the Warden, Professor Ken Gregory, for large areas of the academic administration as Senior Pro-Warden (Academic), with the Academic Registrar, the Head of the Academic Office, and the Director of the International Office all reporting to him. After serving on the Senior Management Team for over a decade, Alan returned in 2002 to the (then) Department of English and Comparative Literature as a full-time Professor and occasional Head of Department, teaching courses in detective fiction, poetry and Shakespeare as well as the topic on which he has published extensively, eighteenth-century English literature. His books include Robert Harley and the Press (1979), Jonathan Swift, Political Writer (1984), To Settle the Succession of the State: Literature and Politics, 1678-1750 (1994) and A Political Biography of Henry Fielding (2009). He is also the editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth-Century Novel (2016).
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep 2017 | 3:00pm - 5:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
