Picture: Matt Dinnery
The UK’s biggest student activism conference will be held at Goldsmith’s College, Lewisham, on Saturday November 17.
Student Activism 2011, a free NUS event, will run from 10.30am to 5pm on Saturday. It will be delivered through a menu of workshops, talks, discussions, master classes and debates, which will then culminate in a mass rally.
The event aims to bring together student activists from across the UK to enable student unions, NUS and other campaigning organisations to debate, discuss and arrange group action on issues affecting students.
Sessions will take place across the Goldsmiths campus, kicking off at the Student Union on Dixon Road and then continuing in the adjoining Richard Hoggart Building.
A representative for NUS has said that the event is expecting approximately 130 student officers, plus staff and an unknown number of others.
Altogether, there will be over 60 stalls and workshops. Campaign groups that will be present include Squatters Action for Secure Homes, mental health charity ‘Mind’, Intern Aware, Peace One Day, the Youth Fight for Jobs and The Global Poverty Project.
On the same day, students in Scotland will hold a similar event at the first NUS Scotland Zone Conference. The two conferences will link up by video on Saturday so students from both cities can see one another’s efforts.
London students can take part in interactive talks and debates, including: ‘Whats the Point of Feminism: Should the women’s movement matter to students?’, conducted by the NUS Women’s Campaign.
A panel debate by the Student CND titled: ‘Fund Education Not War’, and a workshop by the Socialist Worker Student Society named: ‘From the Arab Spring to the American Fall – is 2011 the year of revolution?’
Emily James’ independent film ‘Just Do It’ – the story behind the scenes of the environmental direct action movement – will be screened at 11.30am, followed by a Q&A with producer Lauren Simpson.
If you want to attend Student Activism 2011, register for free here.
For a full timetable of the day’s activities, including talks and screenings, click here or search Twitter: #Activism2011
