Dundee politicians of the future to attend fiery Brexit debate at Abertay

Published

8th December 2016

A delegation of 300 students from the next generation of Dundee politicians will attend a fiery Brexit debate between two Abertay University colleagues.

Dr Stuart Waiton will argue the case that ‘Brexit was a democratic victory for the people against the elite’ while opponent Dr Wallace McNeish will present against the motion.

Both lecturers are part of the Abertay sociology department and will be putting forward their real life beliefs.

The eager young audience for the December 13 event will be made up of higher Modern Studies students from secondary schools across the city.

Each speaker has 15 minutes to outline their argument followed by a five minute rebuttal.

Questions are then taken from the floor before electronic voting is used to determine the winner.

Head of the Sociology Division, Dr Jason Annetts will be chairing the debate.

He said the exchange promised an exciting and engaging clash of opinions.

He added: “Our annual Modern Studies debate has been really successful in engaging young people from across Dundee in political discussion about the key issues affecting society today.

“Political citizenship is a key part of any health democracy and it is therefore essential that we encourage young people to become actively involved in these debates.”

The debate begins at 1.30pm in the main lecture theatre of Abertay’s Kydd Building.

Dr Waiton is a sociology and criminology lecturer and founder of Generation Youth Issues.

He writes for a variety of newspapers and is regular media commentator.

Author of Scared of the Kids, and The Politics of Antisocial Behaviour: Amoral Panics, his latest book is entitled Snobs’ Law: Criminalising Football Fans in an Age of Intolerance.

Dr McNeish holds the following degrees taught a variety of Sociology and Politics courses at the University of Glasgow, University of Stirling and Glasgow Caledonian University before taking up his current role at Abertay.

He also worked as a contract researcher on a number of funded sociology projects at the University of Glasgow.

He has been the Sociology Division Leader since 2011.

Abertay University

A modern university with a long history and a clear sense of our distinctive mission, highly regarded for our academic performance in areas with genuine relevance and impact on society and the economy, and with a community of talented students and academics who make us the success we are.

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