Pankhurst Lecture teaches students out-of-the-box thinking
Not only was the annual Pankhurst Lecture hosted by the University of Manchester School of Law a prestigious platform for the revered Dame Anne Owers to speak about equality, diversity and human rights, but it proved an invaluable learning opportunity for students in the audience.
Former Chief Inspector of Prisons and now National Chair of the Independent Monitoring Boards, Dame Anne presented her unmatched expertise at the Whitworth Hall on February 6th 2019, at the fifth annual Pankhurst Lecture founded by the School of Law to commemorate Suffragette Christabel Pankhurst.
Dr Emily Turner, Lecturer in Criminology, found the talk ‘inspirational’ and added that it touched on many if the topics her students are working on as part of their undergraduate degree.
“Dame Anne’s talk reminded us of the importance of teaching and researching these issues, especially trying to consider the impacts on the criminal justice services at a time following a reduction in resources and how prisons and police stations often reflect wider issues in the community such as drug use and mental health issues,” Dr Turner explained.
Criminology students had plenty to take away on the topic of police and policing, thanks to Dame Anne’s experience of working at the Independent Police Complaints Commission, in addition to her experiences of working with prisons, providing food for thought on the penal system, our systemic approaches to punishment in the UK, and imprisonment to rehabilitation.
"I found the Pankhurst lecture very inspirational and engaging,” commented Criminology student Nadia Kennar. “I felt it linked nicely to the ‘Understanding punishment’ module and the ‘Police and policing’ module as there was a lot of talk about the complaint system, which was very interesting. I know that the other students who attended felt the same.”
"I found it fascinating to hear her views on the current state of the prison service in this country” added Criminology student Georgia Scott. “She said that prison was often the ‘default setting’ in how we deal with offenders, and described the potentially harmful consequences of imprisoning people who have mental health or substance abuse problems, particularly women. “
To view a recording of the 2019 edition of the Pankhurst Lecture, click here.