Louise Thompson (School of Social Sciences)

Louise teaches POLI32041 Contemporary Parliamentary Studies which provides ‘real world’ elements that make students feel part of a learning community, and has impact that extends beyond the classroom. In collaboration with the Clerk of Private Member’s Bills (PMBs) Louise’s workshop-style classes enable Interactive role-plays with parliamentary officials in which students enter a mock PMB ballot, create bills of their own, and Methods based workshops led by students in which different groups of students either watch a video recording of PMQs OR use the written Hansard transcript. The resulting comparison it demonstrates the challenges of relying on written material only.

Louise has shared this approach with colleagues in Law and has authored a textbook, Exploring Parliament, which has been adopted as a core text by 23 other HEIs.