This month, we have information on the following for you:
- New officer team
- PSA Annual Conference, 2017
- Essay Competition 2017
- Event: Seminar on reform of Scottish Parliament
- Event: Parliament, Data and Democracy
- Recently on the blog
If you have any notices / messages you would like us to circulate to the group, please let us know (including events, new research projects, grants, publications, etc.).
Best wishes,
Marc (@marcgeddes), Louise (@LouiseVThompson), Alex (@A_Meakin) and Leanne (@LeanneMarieC)
1.New officer team
As you will be aware, we’ve had some changes to our officer team. To summarise, the new officer team:
- Co-Convener: Marc Geddes (Edinburgh)
- Co-Convener: Louise Thompson (Surrey)
- Communications Officer: Alex Meakin (Sheffield)
- Treasurer: Leanne-Marie McCarthy-Cotter (Sheffield)
We will work hard to build on the efforts of our outgoing Co-Convener, Cristina Leston-Bandeira, who has done such a fantastic job in re-launching the SG with Louise as recently as 2014!
If you had ideas, suggestions, questions or want to get more involved in the group, please get in touch.
2. PSA Annual Conference, 2017
The PSA is continuing to work hard with the organisation of its annual conference, to take place in April 2017.
The PSA has published the latest details about papers and panels, as well as a conference overview, which you can find here.
We will send out a newsletter with details of panels and papers that our members might be interested in shortly. In the meantime, take a look at our bumper set of 7 panels and 28 papers lined up for the conference here.
If you have not bought your tickets, please buy them here.
3. Essay Competition – reminder
Our third essay competition is up and running. The competition is open to all undergraduate students – please submit your best assignments to be in with a chance of winning £100 or £50, as well as the prestige associated with winning for your department! For the past two years, the essay prizes have been awarded by the Clerk of the House at events in London. The essay competition’s details can be found on our website.
4. Seminar on reform of the Scottish Parliament
On Friday, 24 February, the Scottish Study of Parliament Group has organised a seminar to consider reforms of the Scottish Parliament. It includes presentations on: the role of modern parliaments; how to enhance scrutiny; and increasing diversity. The meeting will take place 10am-1pm at St Leonard’s Hall (University of Edinburgh), which you can fine here.
To confirm attendance, please contact Stephen Herbert (Scottish Parliament): stephen.herbet@parliament.scot
5. Event: Parliament, Data and Democracy
On Tuesday, 21 February, you might be interested in an event on Parliament and Data. Held at Newspeak House at 7pm, there will be a range of short talks and conversations. It is designed especially for librarians, statisticians, academics, historians, technologists, designers or for those just interested in Parliament.
For more details about the event, please click here.
6. Recently on the blog
Our website has been busy with new blogs, including:
- “Promoting Gender Equality in Parliaments“, by Jacqui Smith and Kristen Sample (Global Partners Governance)
- “Data in Parliament? It’s complicated” by Michael Smethurst (Parliamentary Digital Service) and Ben Worthy (Birkbeck)
- “Parliamentary History from A-Z: A for Applause” by Paul Seaward (History of Parliament Trust)
- “What makes for effective parliamentary public engagement? Reflections from the Welsh National Assembly” by Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Leeds) and Kevin Davies (National Assembly of Wales)