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Voices of youth discuss impact of war on their generation

Posted on 13 March 2006

More than 100 A-level students from schools across York and North Yorkshire will gather at the University of York this week to discuss how war has changed the world.

They will be attending the fourth YOUth VOICE forum which gives young people the opportunity to air their views on a wide range of subjects that affect them.

We have some great speakers lined up, and l am sure there will be an extremely lively debate for everyone taking part

Jo Betts

Academics from across the University of York and beyond, have volunteered their services for the event on Wednesday 5 March. It is run by a group of York undergraduates with the support of the University’s Community and Volunteering Unit, and forges closer links between secondary educational establishments and their local university.

The theme of this year’s conference is ‘How has warfare changed our world: Methods, Morals and Media?’ Before the debate in Langwith College, the students attend a series of mini-lectures highlighting the issues.

Speakers will include Professor Haleh Afshar of the University’s Department of Politics, a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords, who will discuss the changing realities of warfare in the 21st century.

Professor Carol Symes, of the University of Illinois, a distinguished visiting lecturer at the University of York’s Centre for Medieval Studies, will deliver a shortened version of her public lecture on how the Middle Ages influenced the conduct of the First World War. Historians Dr Allen Warren, Dr Shane O’Rourke, and Professor Miles Taylor complete a formidable line up.

YOUth VOICE chair, Jo Betts, said: "We have some great speakers lined up, and l am sure there will be an extremely lively debate for everyone taking part."

The project was awarded a Shepherd Group Award for Student Volunteering 2007 and was also nominated for a Higher Education Active Community Fund (HEACF) award, in 2006/7, in the Outstanding Project category.

Notes to editors:

  • The Community and Volunteering Unit at the University of York has supported 11 similar community engagement projects this year alone aimed at providing opportunities and links for students to engage and volunteer in their community.

Contact details

David Garner
Senior Press Officer

Tel: +44 (0)1904 322153