By: Communications
UEA is one of just twenty-three institutions to have been awarded the right to deliver the unique and highly regarded Parliamentary Studies Module from 2024-25 by a panel of staff from the Houses of Parliament.
In connection with the UK Parliament’s commitment to promoting and supporting the study of Parliament, this is the third time that Parliament has sought collaborators to teach the Parliamentary Studies Module following continued and successful engagement with universities throughout the UK since 2013.
Dr Eitan Tzelgov, who uses Data Science to understand Parliamentary politics, said:
“We are very proud to be able to offer this module to our students. Throughout their studies, we help them to acquire knowledge and to understand theories and methods that will help them make sense of Politics and of International Relations, and guide their evaluations of its quality. With this module, we add learning from the first-hand experience of the staff who help our legislative and political institutions work.”
Parliamentary Studies is the only higher education module formally approved by the Houses of Parliament and is co-taught by university tutors and officials from the Houses of Parliament. The aim of the module is to provide students with a detailed knowledge of how Parliament works in both theory and practice and is delivered in collaboration with the Houses of Parliament.
UEA will provide academic and theoretical content, with the Houses of Parliament providing practical teaching about the work, processes and business of Parliament.
Prof Alan Finlayson, Professor of Political and Social Theory, is an expert in political speech, rhetoric and speechwriting and teaches students how to write their own Parliamentary-style speech, which they deliver at the end of the module when the class visits Westminster. He said:
“It’s a great opportunity for students to do something different. What people first think of when they think of Parliament is noisy debates in the House of Commons. On our module, students get to understand the background to that and to experience it from the inside. And after this module, maybe one day they can deliver a Parliamentary speech for real.”
Former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament for Norwich North, Rt Hon Chloe Smith has agreed to take up a three-year Honorary Fellowship at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
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