Stirling University, with its campus lifestyle, was a centre for more than just academia for students in the 1980s.
These were the days of big political debate and bigger hairstyles.
The technology was just as sharp as the fashions – or so we thought at the time…
We have joined forces with the university’s archives team to pull together a gallery of images which capture some key moments of campus life four decades ago.
Maybe you will spot yourself or someone you know in our gallery?
Perhaps you remember the student newspaper?
Or how the accommodation looked?
Grab your bag as we head back to class in the 1980s.
Sunny Stirling makes for a student idyll
Students at Stirling in the 1980s had their teaching delivered in the semester system, which divided lectures and tutorials into two semesters of 15 weeks each.
The 1982 university prospectus focussed on the great location and facilities on offer for students who came to study at Stirling University.
Gritty publication from Stirling Students’ Association in 1981
The cover of the Student’s Association Handbook for 1981-82 presented a different picture to the sunny University prospectus above.
Its dark and gloomy cover reflected the post-punk and Goth student fashions of the time.
The bridge across the loch
The iconic bridge across the loch was a well-trodden path for students each day.
It provided the main link between the student halls and the central university buildings including the library and Student Union.
Daily life on campus at Stirling Uni
Learning to fend for yourself is part of the challenge and excitement of moving away from home to university.
I wonder what was on the menu for these students?
At least they didn’t need to resort to that student staple, cold beans!
The Stirling campus was designed as a town in miniature, with large halls built around the loch to accommodate many of the university’s students.
Watching TV in a student lounge was common in the days before people had TVs , PCs and laptops in their rooms.
I wonder what today’s students would think about the size of this screen and having to turn a knob on the TV to change channel or adjust the volume?
A thoroughly modern university
The changes in teaching methods over time can be seen in this photograph of one of the university’s language labs.
In the pre-digital age, individual booths provided an effective method of listening and learning a range of languages.
Do you remember using a language lab at school or university?
Research looked different in the 1980s.
These large microfilm readers provided access to old issues of newspapers in the University Library in the pre-digital age.
Technology was also the focus of the university’s 1983 annual report.
The cover presented a high-tech future.
The report recorded a total student population of 3,030.
Today the University of Stirling has a global student population of over 17,500.
Getting involved in student media was a highlight of university life for many Stirling students
Airthrey Radio was founded in 1972 to provide a soundtrack to student life on campus.
The campus radio station is run by students for students it continues to broadcast today as Air3 radio.
The first foray into print media was established in 1969.
Brig, Stirling’s student newspaper, took its name from the famous bridge over the loch and reported on all aspects of campus life.
These covers from 1985 illustrate the styles and fashions of that era.
The dawn of Acid House brought a smiley end to the 1980s on this cover of Brig, the student newspaper, from December 1989.
It reveals a change in culture as students prepared to leave the 1980s behind.
A centre for the arts: Stirling’s Macrobert Arts Centre
The Macrobert Arts Centre has been the cultural heart of the university since 1971. The renowned cultural hub provides a wide range of music, theatre, dance and cinema events.
In the 1980s the Macrobert box office was accessed directly down stairs from the central area outside the university library.
Student protests at Stirling’s Queen’s Court
In 1981 planned government cuts to the university sector triggered protests at campuses across the country including this meeting held in Queens Court at the centre of the Stirling campus.
A familiar face addressing the crowds
Another image of the 1981 anti-cuts demo showing the then student union president Jack McConnell addressing the crowd.
Jack McConnell was First Minister of Scotland from 2001-2007 and is now Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and the current Chancellor of the University of Stirling.
It is the final image in our gallery.
Did you attend the University of Stirling in the 1980s?
Did you recognise anyone you know?
Please share your reminisces in the comments section below.
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