On the Road with Betsy Woolf – Northeastern University London

I knew Northeastern University London in its old location in a brownstone on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, originally home to New College of the Humanities. But I did not know what to expect with its move to the neighborhood of the Tower of London. So I decided to find out.

I was surprised at how picturesque the location is. Yes, the university really is down by the tranquil  waters of St. Katherine Docks. A school of only 2200 students at this location (Northeastern’s flagship campus is in Boston), its main building and campus hub, Devon House, is a modern edifice on the Thames River in a waterfront  and boating community filled with cafes and restaurants. It really is a stone’s throw – or maybe a home run-hit ball – from the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. There is a tube (underground) station nearby.

My excellent tour guide, an international student, took us past the Tower walls on a 15 minute walk to another of Northeastern’s buildings that houses its well-known co-operative program, and then to a new classroom building, One Portsoken, nearby. One of the main features of the building are its private “huddle rooms” where students can gather to work together. Northeastern London does not house a brick and  mortar library, but students do have access to libraries at other universities within the city, although the tour guide told us that students don’t seem to need a library since most of what they need is available through the university’s e-library and there are plenty of quiet places to study.

Northeastern offers students residences across London, with the closest at Aldgate, a 15-minute walk from Devon House, and at Spitalfields, around a 25 minute walk away.