Sixth form students inspired at the Festival of Social Science – Secrets, Lies and Spies

One of these events was led by Dr Owen Thomas of the Politics department, titled ‘Secrets, Lies and Spies’, and held at Exeter Central Library. Dr Thomas used his own research on democracy and security to inform the design of an interactive day-long exercise, in which sixth form students considered an important social and political issue of contemporary times. Schools from across the Southwest region were invited to spend a day simulating the role of newspaper editors, deciding whether or not to publish sensitive information related to national security and the implications this action may have on our democracy.

Students from Coombeshead Academy, Huish Episcopi Academy, Stoke Damerel Community College and Sir John Hunt Community Sports College attended and the feedback we received from both students and teachers was overwhelmingly positive. Students were inspired by Owen’s presentation and found out more about what studying social science at University entailed. Below are just a couple of comments from the students:

'Before I came, I was under the immature assumption that social science was a pseudo-science, but after the inspiring speaker, workshops and activities, my understanding of social science as an academic and very contemporary field flourished.'

'I really enjoyed it and for someone like me who didn’t know what to do at degree level, it has made me very sure I want to pursue social science.'

 For more information about this event, or about any of our Social Sciences outreach days, please contact Kate Filimon.