As part of the Extended Project Qualification Programme and general Sixth Form Studies, Chris Fuller from the University of Southampton’s “Learning With Us” Programme visited St Catherine’s to give our Year 12 and 13 students a taste of what will be expected of them should they go on to study at a Russell Group University.
The girls discovered that the days of having learning handed to them on a plate will be well and truly over once they get to a university like Southampton, where the emphasis is quite different from school: it is less about lecturing and teaching and much more about cutting edge research intensive learning.
Chris Fuller began by literally throwing our girls in at the deep end with a fascinating lecture entitled “The Only Game in Town?” Unmanned Drones in US Counterterrorism and Wider Foreign Policy.
Although the students were initially rather daunted, thanks to Chris’ totally engrossing style and delivery, impressive use of a power point presentation of maps, charts and video clips (plus the novelty factor of each girl having her own hand held voting device!) – the lecture quickly became very interactive with the girls being invited to cast their vote on different key issues thrown up as the talk progressed.
An informal seminar followed the lecture - mimicking what would happen at university - where Chris handed over the floor to the girls to debate whether or not the US, having declared “War on Terrorism” had “just cause” and whether the use of proactive military force such as unmanned drones designed to kill leading members of al-Qaeda were, in fact, effective, legal or, ultimately, moral. The argument between torture, killing and legal methods is a precarious one and it was fascinating to see how the girls battled to formulate an argument for or against the different aspects of the matter under discussion.
The topic was then made startlingly relevant when, the very next morning, the issue of America’s use of unmanned drones was on the BBC News – providing a clear evidence of how academic study relates to real world events.
The final element of the session provided valuable advice to those students who will be beginning to research and write their EPQ paper over the summer to makes sure they “explode” the terms of their proposed titles so that they are not impossibly wide and also to use as many primary sources as possible.
All in all, it was a highly informative and interesting series of talks which will have given the girls an invaluable taste of the exciting and different challenges that lie ahead for them in Higher Education.
Mrs J Bailey
Director, Gifted and Talented Programme