Politics: insight4me Politics – Focus on Political Parties (UK) With Goldsmiths, University of London & University of East Anglia

• University of East Anglia: Dr Eitan Tzelgov is Associate Professor in Politics in the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies. Eitan will present Why did Nan vote for Boris? In this discussion, Eitan will argue that politics is much more interesting than football because the party never stops! Parties are always fighting for our votes, using different spins, strategies, and calculations. But, why do they bother if Nana always votes for the Tories? We will talk about parties in the UK but also about trends in party politics outside that we can learn from.

• Goldsmiths, University of London: Dr Simon Griffiths is Head of Department in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Goldsmiths and will present Who Cares about Politics? People seem increasingly fed up with politics. Is this the case? Dr Simon Griffiths examines the argument that people have moved away from traditional forms of politics. In recent decades, we don’t vote in the numbers we used to, we don’t join political parties, and we don’t seem to like politicians. Griffiths explores why this is the case but concludes that perhaps nowadays we just do politics differently.

insight4me is a series of subject specific webinars for Year 12 & 13 students, and equivalent. The sessions directly support students’ current studies by giving an insight into particular curriculum areas whilst affording an understanding of how these subjects continue beyond A-levels, T-levels, IB, BTEC and equivalent qualifications, and how they vary between universities.

In this insight4me Politics online event for schools and colleges, Goldsmiths, University of London & University of East Anglia will each have roughly 30 minutes to deliver a punchy, topic based ‘micro’ talk. Within an overall session theme of Focus on Political Parties (UK), the universities have the freedom to choose their own focus and use the time to convey the key points of the case studies for the students.

Our events are designed so that a group of students can take part from a classroom or students and teachers can take part as individuals, either from school or from home. This means that sessions will continue irrespective of possible school closures.

As a live, participative event, this session will not be recorded but slides and other resources will be shared after the event, where available.

Suitable for: Year 12 & 13 students (and equivalent) studying, or with a possible interest in studying, Politics and related disciplines. Student groups, and individual students and teachers are very welcome to join us.

Preparation/Pre-Reading: Students may wish to consider the 2 topics and discuss some of the key elements in advance. Students can also think about questions they have about studying Politics at university level.

The IT Setup: The event will be run on Bluejeans (similar to Zoom) and participants will be able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. If you are joining as a school group, we recommend connecting with one device and projecting on to a whiteboard. You will be able to interact with the university via a microphone and/or typed comments and questions. Full details will be sent to those who have registered (see below) prior to the event.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest using the link to the registration form below: