The Rothermere American Institute

The Rothermere American Institute, an international centre of excellence dedicated to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of the United States, was opened on 25 May 2001 by former US President Bill Clinton. Bringing together scholars, intellectuals, policy-makers and public figures from around the world, the Rothermere American Institute promotes a greater public and academic understanding of the history, culture and politics of the United States. The Institute also hosts the finest library of American Politics, History and Literature to be found outside the USA.

The Building

Made possible by the generosity of many donors, particularly that of the Rhodes Trust and the Harmsworth family, the building is one of considerable architectural distinction. The Vere Harmsworth Library occupies the upper floors, where there are carrels for thirty researchers. The lower floors house the Director, statutory Professors of American Politics, History and Literature, visiting scholars and post-doctoral fellows. The Institute has been built to face the garden area behind Mansfield College at the corner of Mansfield Road and South Parks Road

A distinguished modernist building, designed by the international architectural firm Kohn, Pedersen, Fox, houses the Institute. Designed in traditional Oxford materials of Bath stone, oak and zinc, it is conceived as a garden pavilion whose façade reflects the scale and delicacy of the adjacent Mansfield College.

The design draws on both the long traditions of Oxford collegiate architecture and the possibilities of contemporary technology to provide a fitting response to the challenges of the setting. The building is open and accessible - underscoring the Institute's central ambition to be a place of meeting and exchange.

Our Wider Mission

The academic role of the Institute is to coordinate and enhance the work in American Studies currently being done in the Faculties of English and Modern History, and the Department of Politics and International Relations. Information about postgraduate degrees in American subjects offered at Oxford University can be obtained from the website of the appropriate faculty or department.

English Faculty: www.english.ox.ac.uk

Modern History Faculty: www.history.ox.ac.uk

Department of Politics & International Relations: www.politics.ox.ac.uk

The Institute hosted the annual conference of the British Association for American Studies in 2002, and the Annual Conference of the American Politics Group (APG) of the Political Studies Association of the UK in January 2009. It continues to be a forum for academic meeting and exchange, and will again host the Annual Conference of the APG in 2010 and 2011.