Professor Susanne Klausen

I want to add my voice to the calls being made to save the Centre.

I for one have benefited hugely from my involvement with the Centre, which I started visiting in the late 1990s when I was a doctoral student. I was always struck by how welcoming and supportive the Centre staff was to graduate students like me who were visiting the UK to conduct research. The ability to have a base at the Centre, a mere two-minute walk from the Wellcome library and situated practically next door to the BL, was a huge help since I don't have family or professional connections in London. And while there I had the great good fortune to meet brilliant, inspiring scholars like the late, great Roy Porter, who, while Director, made a point of involving visiting scholars like me in the life of the Centre. It would be a huge loss to scholars from around the world needing to work in London who have come to depend on the Centre as a 'home away from home.'

I sincerely hope the powers-that-be reconsider their apparently rash decision to shut down that vibrant site of international research and collegiality.

Susanne Klausen
Carleton University
Ottawa