The Past Speaks

In 2008, US academics live blogged election night. Today is election day in the UK. Tonight, a group of distinguished academics at the LSE will gather to discuss the results. The forum will be webcast.

Academics are occasionally invited to contribute to election night broadcast on TV, but they are usually drowned out by the journalists and partisan pundits. The advantage of a university webcast a live seminar is that it cuts out the middleman of the TV channels.

Thursday 6 May 2010, 9pm-1am  A lively evening of academic analysis as the general election results come in. Speakers Speakers will include Professor Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics, LSE European Institute; Professor Chris Brown, Department of International Relations; Professor Michael Cox, Director, LSE IDEAS; Howard Davies, Director of LSE; Dr Jon Davis, Executive Director of the Mile End Group and Lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London; Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Chair of the LSE Public Policy Group; Professor Kevin Featherstone, Director of the Hellenic Observatory at LSE; Dr Sara Hagemann, Lecturer in EU Politics; Professor Simon Hix, Director of the Political Science and Political Economy Group at LSE; Will Hutton, Executive Vice Chair of the Work Foundation; Professor Helen Margetts, Professor of Society and the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute; and Tony Travers, Director of the Greater London Group.Topics of discussion will include ‘The State of the Economy and an Emergency Budget’ and ‘Britain’s Place in the World’, as well as updates and analyses of the polls coming in.

One hopes that Canadian academics will do something similar at our next election, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.