Scotland’s Future

In this Scotland’s Future Series podcast three of St Andrews’ student leaders talk about how their different backgrounds, experiences and views have helped shape and strengthen how they ensure effective student representation.

Students’ Association President Barry Will, Director of Education Cam Brown, and Director of Wellbeing and Equality Caitlin Ridgway talk to Professor Stephen Gethins about the importance of working together to make sure student voices are heard and that every student no matter their background or beliefs feels supported and listened to.

Coming into post on the back of the Covid pandemic has posed particular challenges for the current ‘Sabbs’ and in this recording, they discuss how they have come together as a group of six not only to lead the students’ representative body but also to make a real and lasting difference to the student experience in St Andrews.

Barry, who focussed on student poverty in his presidential campaign, grew up in Dundee where he saw first-hand the “raw side of inequality” and, as the first member of his family to attend university, could not rely on any academic support at home. Cam, on the other hand, travelled the world with his family and had attended another university before joining St Andrews. Caitlin said her background growing up in one place and then moving to another, has helped her in her role championing health, diversity and inclusion. All three agree that no matter what your background or financial status, “every single person in this community should feel supported”.

Amongst the subjects discussed is the review of the Academic Calendar which Cam has been heavily involved in, plus the challenges of supporting all St Andrews students affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

Barry said supporting students is at the heart of everything they do and this is why it is so important that the group work together using their different experiences and sharing their views to ensure they can provide the right kind of support to those affected. While they may each hold different views, it is this ability to work through their disagreements to ensure everyone in the St Andrews student community is supported and listened to.

In this podcast, the first in a series of conversations about the importance of widening access and understanding more about the barriers some people face in accessing education, including Higher Education, Scotland’s Future Series looks at some of the challenges faced by students from a care-experienced background.

During the conversation we hear more about the important role university can play not only in providing an education and qualifications but also in providing, for some, vital stability and support.

The guests also share some startling statistics on the life chances of young people who have been through the care system and the impact this has on their self-confidence and how they view themselves in society.

Delivering innovative solutions to supporting students and staff through the cost-of-living and energy crisis has been at the heart of University activity since summer 2022.

Professor Phillips O’Brien, Head of the School of International Relations, and Professor Stephen Gethins, AVP (International), talk to the University’s Deputy Legal Officer Mike Gettinby about their visit to Ukraine.

Controversial plans to launch a pilot scheme for judge-only trials in rape and sexual assault cases is the focus of this Scotland’s Future Series discussion, the second podcast on the proposed new legislation.

‘Miss M’ tells Scotland’s Future Series why rape survivors view ‘third’ verdict as worse than a ‘Not Guilty’ result

Over the course of the last year, the University’s Scotland’s Future podcast series has featured discussions on a range of issues from the impact of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the impact of Islamic Republic rule on the rights and freedoms of the Iranian people, to the difficulties being faced by staff, students and the wider St Andrews community as a result of the cost-of-living and energy crisis.

Projects funded by the Scotland’s Future Series panel are also tackling a range of issues pertinent to Scotland’s role in the world and, by getting involved, academics, professional staff and students are being given the chance to shape developments and influence decision making.

The series was designed with the specific aim of encouraging and facilitating a wide range of debate and discussion even when some of the subjects may prove difficult or controversial.

There are few topics more controversial than Scotland’s Not Proven verdict – or as the podcast reminds us, “that bastard verdict” – in the view of Sir Walter Scott.

Former St Andrews student ‘Miss M’ has been at the forefront of leading the campaign, calling on the Scottish Government to end the use of the ‘third verdict’ in Scots law, an option she and many others with experience of the Scottish Courts system, including those in the judiciary, believe is resulting in guilty men walking free.

In this exclusive interview for Scotland’s Future Series, Miss M and Sandy Brindley, Chief Executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, talk to Mike Gettinby, the University’s Deputy Legal Officer, about the work that has gone into the campaign, and the wider impact scrapping the verdict would have on rape survivors and their ability to achieve closure.

In this Scotland’s Future Series discussion host Professor Stephen Gethins talks to Professor Ali Ansari from the University’s School of History and former refugee and author Dina Nayeri, from the School of English, about the current protests in Iran and what’s driving women across the country to say enough is enough.

In the last few months, protests have escalated across Iran as people, especially women, stand up to four decades of this repressive regime, its enforcement of Sharia law, and the impact of strict rules including the re-veiling of women and girls in public.

Dina Nayeri talks about her childhood in Iran, which coincided with the early days of the Islamic Republic, her experience as a refugee after her family fled Iran, and the perspective of the current generation of Iranians living in “confusion” between the strict rules imposed on their own lives and the “maleocracy” of their government, juxtaposed with the free world they can see beyond its borders.

Ali Ansari, who is the Founding Director of St Andrews’ Institute for Iranian Studies, talks about the process of change in Iran and how the end of the Islamic Republic and a return to a more liberal society may take time.

In this special interview for the Scotland’s Future Series, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko talks about the impact of the Russian invasion not only on the freedom, democracy, human rights, and liberties of those living in Ukraine, but also of everyone living across Europe.

Speaking on a visit to the University of St Andrews, where she met with Ukrainian students and took part in a public event on the situation in Ukraine, Ms Vasylenko said that while the war being waged by Russia since 2014 affects the people of Ukraine most, the escalation of Russian aggression since February of this year has far-reaching consequences for the whole “democratic and freedom-loving global family”.

This episode is a recording of the first event to be funded by the University’s innovative Scotland’s Future Series which brought staff, students and members of the wider St Andrews community together to discuss how we can listen better and debate more collaboratively.

Organised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland (YAS) and the University’s Ethics Cup team, the ‘Responsible Debate’ event focused on the importance of using civilised and constructive techniques to discuss issues, particularly in an increasingly polarised world.

The event was hosted by YAS member Dr Alice König, of the School of Classics, and chaired by Ben Sachs, Senior Lecturer in philosophy and organiser of the Ethics Cup. The panel comprised Dundee West MP and St Andrews alumnus Chris Law, the University’s Head of Mediation and Wellbeing, Ruth Unsworth, Professor Stephen Gethins from the School of International Relations, and YAS member Peter McColl of The Consultation Institute.

In Episode 5 of our podcast series Professor Stephen Gethins meets Dr Milinda Banerjee, Lecturer in Modern History in the School of History and Sociologist Dr Jo Mhairi Hale, lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, to talk about the interdisciplinary project they are embarking on as part of Scotland’s Future Series with their colleague, Isabel Robinson, Research Fellow in Modern History.

Called ‘For Freedom: Scotland and the Making of a Decolonised World’ their project looks at Scotland’s role in the anti-colonial movement. During the discussion, they talk about how 2022 marks a century since the formal independence of Egypt, and 75 years since the independence of India and Pakistan and how, on these anniversaries, the project aims to follow two main pathways connecting Scotland to pasts and futures of decolonisation in Asia and Africa.

In a special Scotland’s Future podcast dedicated to the war in Ukraine, we hear from those most affected by the Russian invasion, as well as from academics who have been closely monitoring the impact of the war on the country, its people and its economy, as well as examining the role of the media and particularly social media in the conflict.

Host Professor Stephen Gethins talks to St Andrews International Business student Diana Surzhyk from Kyiv in Ukraine, about the human impact of prolonged Russian aggression on her country, her family and friends and her views on Ukraine’s future.

The podcast also hears from British Academy Research Fellow Dr Taras Fedirko, from the University of St Andrews School of Philosophy, Anthropological and Film Studies, who was carrying out research in his homeland prior to the invasion.

Also contributing to the podcast are world-renowned military strategist Professor Phillips O’Brien, who has been charting the war and Russia’s tactics since the start of the invasion and now has over 100,000 Twitter followers, as well as Dr Alice König from the school of Classics, who runs the University’s Visualising War and Peace project.

In the first Scotland’s Future podcast to be launched, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sally Mapstone talks about the importance of productive, responsible debate and the building of better communication skills, particularly the ability to listen, understand and consider beliefs that may not chime with your own. The Principal states that by getting involved in running projects supported by Scotland’s Future funding, students and staff are being given an opportunity to come up with ideas and work together, “We want to encourage anyone who feels there is a live issue to be brought forward, to do so.”

“We are particularly inflecting this debate from the perspective of Scotland’s Future; so many of the issues that are being raised are obviously issues that are broader than just Scotland but they allow a crucially shaping influence in relation to the kind of future Scotland experiences.”

Some of the projects to receive the green-light in the first funding round focus on climate justice and climate change, the importance of responsible debate, the role of universities and the future of Higher Education, as well as ideas of sovereignty and nationalism.

“If we can provide a forum in which these issues and ideas can be richly explored as a University, that is exactly what we should be doing,” added Professor Mapstone.