ImagineBelfast15

‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life … Rethinking the Public University (Prof John Brewer) #ImagineBelfast15

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 13, 2015, 8:58 pm

| Readers 693

The public university is dead … a slow and lingering death, … and its corpse lies lifeless in every senior managers’ meeting, in every classroom and every tutorial venue … in every boarded up common room and every closed bookshop. QUB’s Prof John Brewer argued over lunchtime that neo-liberalisation and a marketisation of higher education – as much a Thatcher and Blair process as a ConDem coalition one – has destroyed universities. Surprisingly, those responsible for the patient’s care were …

The Great Big Politics Quiz – celebrating and lampooning politics in a way not possible everywhere #ImagineBelfast15

Patrick Corrigan on March 13, 2015, 1:59 pm

| Readers 406

A big thank you to new faces and old-timers who came along to take part in the Great Big Politics Pub Quiz in the Black Box, part of the Imagine! 2015 Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics, and in support of Amnesty’s campaign for Saudi blogger, Raif Badawi, sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes (sign the global petition). As well as refreshing political trivia and recognition skills, we raised £1009.30 – thank you all. A big thanks to …

Gender Quotas & Politics – candidate quotas can improve competency of candidates of both genders! #imaginebelfast15

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 12, 2015, 4:00 pm

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Prof Yvonne Galligan introduced the topic of Gender Quotas at an Imagine!2015 Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics session up at Queen’s University earlier today. Looking across national parliaments in Europe, women make up >40% in Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Spain. The UK manages a shade over 20%, and Ireland just 15%. See the slides under this post. Yvonne looked at a four-stage journey from citizen to representative and the obstacles that face someone being eligible -> aspiring -> nominated …

The Role of History & Historians in Dealing with the Past after the Stormont House Agreement #ImagineBelfast15

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 11, 2015, 4:48 pm

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Today’s lunchtime debate in the UU’s Belfast campus was the best attended of the week – so far – and also the most fractious. Grainne Kelly chaired a panel of Adrian Grant (historian), Cillian McGrattan (politics) and Susan McKay (journalist and writer) who discussed the Role of History and Historians in Dealing with the Past after the Stormont House Agreement. Adrian Grant started by looking at definitions of history (objective truth? or an artform based on narratives of the past?) …

Who Cares about Gender and Dealing with the Past? #ImagineBelfast15 (updated with audio)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 11, 2015, 12:41 am

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Carmel Roulston and (a rather hoarse) Fidelma Ashe presented a lunchtime seminar entitled Who Cases about Gender and Dealing with the Past. Part of the Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics, the lunchtime sessions at UU and QUB are intended to be accessible to the general public and not too academic. Carmel and Fidelma’s material looked at why gender has tended to be left out of many processes that are looking at the past, and contrasted them with the Haass/O’Sullivan …

Who cares about Voting and Identity? Nicholas Whyte explains the stats … #ImagineBelfast15 (updated with charts)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 9, 2015, 5:19 pm

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Nicholas Whyte spoke at a lunchtime event being run under the umbrella of Imagine!2015 The Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics in the Ulster University’s Belfast campus: Who cares about Voting and Identity. You can listen back to his half hour presentation and follow along with the slides below. He broke down census results for national identity and looked at the most British / Irish / Northern Irish / Other wards and constituencies. He asks which parties are engaging with …

The Alternative Manifesto: what policies would you like to see included? #ImagineBelfast15

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 28, 2015, 12:14 pm

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In the run up to the general election we want to hear from people about what they would like to see changed. As political parties polish their election manifestos and get ready to bombard us with inducements to vote for their representatives, we think it’s an opportune time to think about what we would change if we were in charge. As part of the Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics, we would like to kick off a conversation on …

Preview of The Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics (9-15 March) #ImagineBelfast15

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 11, 2015, 11:01 pm

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Belfast’s newest festival launched this morning in the Lord Mayor’s parlour in the City Hall. Nichola Mallon described the city of Belfast as “young, edgy, colourful and creative” as she introduced The Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics. Organiser Peter O’Neill [Ed – no, not that P O’Neill!] explains that the festival’s mission is “to stimulate people’s minds and passions [with] an annual programme of discussion and debate”. None of the invited keynote speakers are politicians. listen to ‘Peter O’Neill …