The Stevenson Trust for Citizenship at the University of Glasgow will over the next two weeks complete its programme of lectures and events running up to the referendum.

Since November 2012, the Stevenson Trust for Citizenship has hosted 13 lectures and a panel discussion; and will now offer a further three lectures and a final panel discussion (a ‘Pre-Election Special’) in the last days before the Referendum takes place.

• Tuesday September 9th: Professor John Curtice (Professor of Government at Strathclyde University and Honorary Stevenson Fellow) will take us through the latest indications from the opinion polls (Choosing the Future: How Scotland’s Citizens Might Vote). (Sir Charles Wilson Building, 6-7.30pm. Informal reception afterwards.)

And then the Stevenson Trust for Citizenship welcomes two eminent historians to the University to offer their perspectives on the Referendum and the question of Independence.

• Thursday September 11th: Professor Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, will offer his analysis under the title, Kicking the Life Back into a Dying Mutual Friend: A Letter from America on Independence. (Boyd Orr Lecture theatre 1, 6-7.30pm. No reception afterwards.)
• Monday September 15th: Professor Sir Tom Devine, Professor of History at Edinburgh University, will present his reflections under the title, The Decline (and possibly imminent fall?) of the Anglo-Scottish Union, 1950-2014. (Boyd Orr Lecture theatre 1, 6-7.30pm. No reception afterwards.)

Both these historians hail from the West of Scotland (Niall Ferguson from Glasgow and Tom Devine from Motherwell) and both have gone on to build an international reputation for their work. The publication in 2003 of Professor Ferguson’s Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World cemented his reputation as an historian of global sweep. As this work indicates, Niall Ferguson remains committed to the continuation of the Union. Professor Sir Tom Devine’s The Scottish Nation 1700-2000, published in 1999 and since updated to 2007, brought his work to a wider readership and established him as Scotland’s leading authority on its modern history. Tom Devine has recently declared himself in favour of Independence.

Glasgow University through the Stevenson Trust for Citizenship is proud to host these contributions at this time from two such eminent historians.

• Tuesday 16th September Pre-Referendum Special: a panel discussion on the referendum, responding to audience questions. The panel comprises academic experts who remain neutral and seek only to offer analysis of the debate and the key issues. (Sir Charles Wilson Building, 6-7.30pm. Informal reception afterwards.)

• Tuesday September 23rd, Professor John Curtice will join us again to offer an analysis of the vote: How Scotland’s Citizens Voted. (Sir Charles Wilson Building, 6-7.30pm. Informal reception afterwards.)

There will be two further lectures reflecting on the result of the Referendum and its implications.

There is no pre-booking for these lectures. School parties are asked to contact Dr Francis in advance.

For further details please contact:

Dr Kevin Francis, Stevenson Fellow in Citizenship, University of Glasgow

Tel: 0141 330 6920;   email: [email protected];