Five Million Questions – Understanding Scotland's Referendum
Context and Background
Before the end of 2014 Scotland will answer a profound and seemingly simple question: should we become an independent country or remain part of the UK. The consequences are profound and the details hugely complex. The debate so far has emitted more heat than light and the people of Scotland are now demanding a more illuminating discussion that exposes a reality beyond the rhetoric. While political parties have necessarily positioned and argued whether there should be one question or two and what the wording of that question should be it is clear that every Scot has their own question; Five Million Questions. And every one of those questions matters.
At our best the Universities are ancient repositories of the knowledge, and hopefully some measure of the collective wisdom, of Scotland. In what is an impassioned and partisan debate the objective neutrality of academia is ideally placed as a forum for illuminating discussion. Indeed, at the University of Dundee, we see such a role as the duty of our institution at this pivotal and exciting moment.
Five Million Questions is funded by the University of Dundee as a knowledge exchange programme that shall engage with the wider public as to the questions they wish to have answered. In return we shall seek to inform the debate as to the consequences that will result from the referendum and its result.
Five Million Questions shall seek to :
- engage in a free spirit of knowledge exchange with the Scottish people and beyond
- to bring to bear the research of the university and our partners to inform the choice of voters
- to lift the national debate beyond the obvious and towards the profound
We will achieve this by:
- hosting a series of debates, speakers and seminars that are accessible and relevant to diverse audiences
- publishing and disseminating the results of our research and discussions as widely as possible
More Information
For more information please contact Professor Chris Whatley, c.a.whatley@dundee.ac.uk