Politicians and political scientists have become increasingly concerned about the rise in political disengagement amongst young people in the UK.

 

In the 2005 parliamentary elections, only 37% of 18 to 25 year olds voted compared with 67% of the general population, and political parties have suffered from rapidly falling and ageing memberships. Youth-centred studies have nevertheless shown that, though most young people do not engage in electoral politics, they remain interested in political issues (more broadly defined). This is illustrated by the dramatic increase in students taking politics A-levels and in applications to political science programmes in HE.

This conference will consider the role of political science education in universities and investigate the synergies that can be found between pedagogical and participatory goals (the civic mission of HE). It also looks at the outreach of civic education beyond HE and seeks to draw on experiences in other countries.

 

The call invites papers on three connected themes:
1)       Young People’s Politics: the audience
- the state of youth participation in democracy and the nature of young people’s politics
- how students’ concepts/experiences of politics can be incorporated more effectively into courses/the curriculum
2)       Teaching and Learning in Political Science Education: teacher-student-course interaction
- the state of political science education today (e.g. does it facilitate interactive learning?)
- teaching & learning techniques to encourage experiential learning and constructively aligned curricula
3)       Teaching Democracy: outreach
- potential outreach of political science education across universities (through HE)
- how political science dept.s can combine teaching activities with participatory activities both on and off campus
- the state of politics/ citizenship education in schools - potential outreach to schools e.g. citizenship classes

The conference will take place over two days (3-4 September 2008), include keynote addresses from both academics and policy-makers. A number of the papers will be collected for submission to a special issue of the Journal of Political Science Education.

 

The fee for the conference will be £20 and will include refreshments/ lunch on both days.

 

The deadline for 250 word abstracts is Friday 18 July 2008 to be sent to the conference organisor and co-director of the Centre for European Politics, Dr James Sloam (james.sloam@rhul.ac.uk).

 

Джерело: UNISTADY