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CPD Training Event, Politics, History, and Global Citizenship (Welsh Baccalaureate)

Swansea University, 19th July 2018

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Twenty-five teachers from Welsh and English schools attended the all-day event at Swansea University. The event included presentations on covert actions during the Cold War (Suez Crisis and Guatemala Coup) as well as contemporary international politics issues (Nuclear war and nuclear fears). The Keynote was given by Professor Scott Lucas who provided his perspective on the Trump Administration. The afternoon session included workshop ideas from various disciplines. 

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Children, Young People and Democracy in Wales

Senedd, Cardiff, 20th June 2018 

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At the Senedd, Dr Luca Trenta joined Dr Matthew Wall (Swansea University) for a session of the project: 'Stand where you stand – talking and thinking politically.’ Dr Wall's project is an interactive, deliberative teaching innovation. The sessions allow students to map out their political positions physically – by ‘taking a stand’ on a series of printed astroturf mats which feature different political positions. Dr Wall and Dr Trenta guided students through a discussion session – fleshing out their thoughts on key political issues and hearing alternative viewpoints in a respectful manner. Students were then presented with a visualisation of how their viewpoints map against the policy stances of major political parties. The session was highly successful.  Issues discussed included: votes at 16; whether countries should intervene militarily to stop mass violence in other countries (humanitarian intervention), Brexit, and the trade-off between security and terrorism.

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SEREN Network - Rhondda Cynon Taff/ Merthyr Tydfil Seren Hub Masterclass

7th March 2018, Coleg y Cymoedd: Nantgarw site

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Seren is a network of regional hubs designed to support Wales’ brightest sixth formers achieve their academic potential and gain access to leading universities. 

 

The Trump Administration has recently shown a willingness to continue and expand the use of drones for targeted killing. In doing so, the new President also repealed regulation established under his predecessor to reduce the number of civilian casualties and to limit the number of drone strikes. The 'Out of the Shadow Masterclass' is divided into two main sections. First, a lecture discussing the origins of drones and the history of the use of drones in counter-terrorism from the Clinton to the Trump Administration. The lecture also discusses debates surrounding the effectiveness, legality, and morality of drones. Second, a role play provide students with an opportunity to more directly explore costs and benefits of drones strikes from the perspective of domestic politics as well as international politics and diplomacy.

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School Conference, WJEC Global citizenship baccalaureate

31st January 2018, Swansea University

The new WJEC Global Citizenship baccalaureate permits pupils to engage with contemporary issues. These include: the role of experts and expertise; the role of biases; how to assess arguments, sources and evidence; how to spot "fake news;" the role of technology: domestic politics and foreign policy. The Out of the Shadows talk - delivered to more than 50 students - engage with the role of the media and of rhetoric. It discussed why, how, and how often leaders lie. It also discussed recent debates regarding the use of social media for electoral interference. 

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Year 9: Aspiring to Higher Education Conference

19th December 2017, Swansea University

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How do Presidents make decisions? What is the role of Presidential rhetoric? How do Presidents use covert action? The talk delivered to various Welsh schools discussed these issues and gave the students an opportunity to engage with electoral campaign materials and with primary sources.

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Being Human Festival, The Cuban Missile Crisis at 55: origins, development and lessons for the 21st century.

23rd November 2017, Bishop Vaughan School, Swansea

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55 years ago the United States and the Soviet Union went head to head in the most dangerous nuclear confrontation and the Cold War: the Cuban Missile Crisis. Humanity had never been so close to nuclear annihilation. But what really happened during the crisis? How did the crisis come about? Who was responsible? How was the crisis resolved? What pressures did American and Soviet policymakers confront in the incredibly tense ‘Thirteen days’? The Out of the Shadows project will run a workshop to answer these and other questions regarding the crisis. The workshop will include a lecture on the crisis and a role play in which pupils will be asked to step into this nuclear confrontation. It will be an opportunity to recover lost documents, to re-evaluate forgotten events and leaders, and to find valuable lessons for the 21st century. 

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Masterclass: “Out of the Shadows: the origins of American and British intelligence and its influence on the contemporary world” in association with Gorwel and RIAH

17th October 2017, National Assembly for Wales, Committee Room, Cardiff Bay

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From the ‘war on terror’ and regime change, to electoral interference, from drone strikes to the new spymasters. In spite of being secretive by nature and in spite of conducting most of their activities in a covert fashion, for the past twenty years, intelligence agencies have been constantly under the spotlight. And yet, the origins of these agencies, their powers, and their activities are hardly mentioned in schools curricula. So what is the role of intelligence agencies? What are the powers of the main intelligence agencies in the US and in the UK? Where do these powers come from? And what is the relation between these agencies and the rest of the government? The talk will provide answers to these questions by looking at the origins and powers of both the CIA and British intelligence. The talk will provide students with an opportunity to engage with a controversial topic while at the same time enriching the account of history and politics provided in the school curriculum. The talk will touch upon issues including the power of the President and the Prime Minister, the Imperial presidency, decolonisation, the Cold War and the superpower confrontation.

 

The talk will cover:

- UK Politics,

- US Politics (Power of the President, Imperial Presidency, Role of Congress),

- Cold War,

- Decolonisation

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Dr Luca Trenta and Dr Huw Bennett will deliver the masterclass.

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Workshop, Leadership Qualities and International Crisis

14th October 2017, Swansea University.

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The workshop included pupils from Narberth School and Blenymaes Primary. The workshop discussed what qualities pupils prefer in a leader and to what extent the qualities change in case of international crisis. The workshop coincided with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Swansea University.

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Out of the Shadows Conference 2017

15th September 2017, Swansea University

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Almost a hundred academics, teachers, and pupils (ages between 14-18 years) from Bishop Vaughan Catholic School, Swansea; Cathedral School, Llandaff; Cefn Saeson School, Neath; The Crypt School, Gloucester; Ffynone House School, Swansea; and Westbourne School, Penarth, came together at Swansea University’s Singleton Park Campus to hear leading experts in the fields of UK and U.S. intelligence discuss a wide range of thought-provoking topics.

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School Seminar: Intelligence, covert action and elections

26th and 28th June 2017, Bishop Vaughan Catholic School, Morriston, Swansea

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There is mounting evidence of Russian interference in the US 2016 Presidential elections, as well as in elections in European countries (including France and Germany). This interference has relied on social media campaign, tweets and fake news. The seminar will discuss interference in elections in historical perspective. It will explore two main cases of US interference in elections: the US and the CIA role in the 1948 elections in Italy and the interference in the presidential elections in Chile in the 1960s and 1970s. The talk will explore techniques used by the CIA and the United States. A hands-on seminar will follow. Students will be asked to ‘impersonate’ key US, Soviet and Italian policymakers and come up with strategies and poster to interfere in elections. Finally, students will be asked to reflect on what impact these strategies might have on democracy and accountability and what can be done to challenge them.

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Dr Luca Trenta and Lloyd Hopkins will run the seminar.

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Workshop: Researching Covert Action

22nd May 2017, London, Friends House

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The first workshop of the Out of the Shadows Project brought together Early Career Researchers and senior academics to discuss covert action in US and UK history. The workshop provided an opportunity to present research on the topic and share experiences of teaching the topic in the classroom. 

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Participants:

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Francesca Akhtar (UCL)

William Carruthers (University of Salford)

Rory Cormac (University of Nottingham)

Chris Hoekstra (UCL)

Lloyd Hopkins (Swansea University)

Claire Hubbard-Hall (Bishop Grosseteste University)

Olivier Lewis (University of St. Andrews)

Amanda Niedfeldt (University of Minnesota)

Vladimir Rauta (University of Portsmouth)

Luca Trenta (Swansea University)

Simon Willmetts (University of Hull)

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