In October 2020 we learned that the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) and the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS), two vital members of the School of Advanced Study, were scheduled to close in December. The move surprised many people, including postgraduate students who had only taken up their studies two weeks before the announcement, as well as senior staff. SASiety learned that the institute directors had not been consulted, as they publicly aired their grievances on Twitter.

For ILAS the closure has unfortunately been the sad reality. But following massive public outcry, which reached the House of Lords, ICwS might still have a small chance of survival.

Institute of Latin American Studies "not viable"

An organisational change consultation was carried out until the end of November 2020. It concluded that ILAS was neither financially nor academically viable and that this prevented ILAS from being moved to another research institution - presumably outside the University of London. The report, which was made available to SAS students and staff, goes on to say that "Latin American Studies remains an important research area," contradicting itself concerning ILAS's academic viability.

Failing to remove ILAS from the School of Advanced Study and the University of London, it was decided that ILAS, its students and fellows would be absorbed into the Institute of Modern Languages Research (IMLR) as a Centre for Latin American Studies. This centre is proposed to serve as an intermediary between modern languages and any disciplines concerned with Latin America. The School of Advanced Study envisions this Centre as "an important part in promoting transnational and transcultural study" by furthering interdisciplinary approaches and research initiatives. One of the central roles of the Centre is also defined as "engaging with calls for funding".

Committee formed to examine the future of Commonwealth Studies

According to the report, it was initially proposed to preserve "key [academic] initiatives [at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies] by moving them to more appropriate homes within the School." This plan would have seen research into Commonwealth history move to the Institute of Historical Research (IHR), while research pertaining to refugee law and human rights would have moved to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS).

The plan to close ICwS sparked public outcry on social media and in the wider academic community, as we reported in October. In its report following the consultation, SAS acknowledged this public interest: "Although this consultation process was an internal, employment matter, an impressive number of stakeholders expressed an interest and demonstrated a commitment to the study of the modern Commonwealth throughout the consultation period."

As a result, a committee was formed to explore whether there are practical alternatives to the proposed closure, which could be realised with the interest and support of external bodies.

The 10-person committee, which was set to convene for the first time on 21.01.21, according to Commonwealth Roundtable, is chaired by former UK Defence and Foreign Commonwealth Office Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Among others, the committee also includes the Director General of the Commonwealth Foundation, a former British High Commissioner to South Africa, the Assistant Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, as well as the Chief Executive and Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. The committee is expected to report in June 2021.

A small reprieve

The closure of ICwS has now been suspended until the committee has submitted its report. This means that students and staff remain attached to Institute of Commonwealth Studies until at least the end of this academic year 2020/2021.

Despite the closure of ILAS, and regardless of the outcome of the committee report, SAS and the University of London have confirmed that the ILAS and ICwS Library Collections, which are housed at Senate House Library, will remain accessible and unaffected by these changes.