Keele University
Keele University is a United Kingdom (UK) university centrally located by the village of Keele just outside Newcastle-under-Lyme in north Staffordshire. Keele is the largest campus university in Europe, with a 617 acre (2.5 km²) estate, but is relatively small in terms of student numbers, with 7,500 full-time students currently attending, although the university is currently expanding its numbers.Established in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire on land bought from the Sneyd family, it became Keele University (attaining university status) in 1962. Keele is one of the UK's top universities. Though Keele has traditionally been regarded well for its sciences and social sciences, the University has built on its growing reputation in the field of health by opening a medical school in 2002. Among its strongest departments are the top-ranked Law and American Studies departments, and its innovative, inter-disciplinary School of Politics, Philosophy, International Relations and the Environment.
Founded to "promote interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary scholarship", Keele emphasises "the strength of a broad educational programme"; The Guardian confirms that Keele "is committed to breadth of study" and "pioneered the breaking down of barriers between arts and sciences" [1]. In the UK university system, where students often specialise in one subject only, Keele's dual honours system is one of the country's broadest, enabling its students to study, for example, two subjects as far apart as English and Physics. Ninety per cent of students at Keele do opt to study more than one subject.
The current Vice-Chancellor is the leading sociologist Professor Janet Finch.