Teaching About Terrorism: University of Birmingham

Teaching About Terrorism is a 2009/10 research project funded by C-SAP, one of the Higher Education Academy's subject networks. The project aims to research the extent and nature of teaching about terrorism in UK Universities, primarily in the disciplines of Sociology, Politics and Criminology.

Freedom of Information Request 1

• Does your institution provide any information or advice to students or staff on any potential liability under Terrorism legislation which might result from accessing materials for teaching or research?

The University does not issue specific information of advice on any potential liability under terrorism legislation. However general guidance is provided which covers all aspects of potential liability for accessing materials for teaching or research. Guidance can be found at the following documents:

• http://www.as.bham.ac.uk/legislation/docs/COP_Research.pdf
• http://www.as.bham.ac.uk/policy/documents/UOBGeneralCondofUseofComputing.pdf
• http://www.as.bham.ac.uk/policy/terms/

• Does your institution have any kind of procedure to review or assess reading lists, module descriptors or other teaching materials which explicitly or in practice considers questions of safety and risk under terrorism legislation as part of its remit?

The University does not specifically reference the legislation in its review processes. Its programme approval and modification processes reference quality and standards - i.e. those set out by Quality Assurance Agency, proffesional bodies/ learned societies (AMBA; RSC; GMC) and other policy statements (e.g. Bologna) if concerns were raised about material in review they will be passed to the PVC (Teaching and Learning) and the registrar secretary to review.

• Does your institution have any system, policy or procedure in place for dealing with any potential actions taken by the authorities against the institution, its students or staff under Terrorism legislation?

Links to Staff and Student Discipline Procedures can be found at:

• http://www.as.bham.ac.uk/policy/disgri support.shtml
• http://www.as.bham.ac.uk/policy/disgri aca.shtml
• http://www.as.bham.ac.uk/policy/disgri admin.shtml

• Does your institution have any system, policy or procedure in place for 'preventing violent extremism' as recommended for example in the government guidance document 'Promoting Good Campus Relations'

The University's code of practice on freedom of speech on campus can be found Freedom of Speech.pdf at

The University is well aware of the Governments Guidance 'Promoting Good Campus Relations' and is active as part of the Prevent program, working in partnership with police. It takes these into account in its approach when dealing with Freedom of Speech on Campus.

Resources

• Freedom of Information Results, Teaching About Terrorism: FOI Results
• University of Birmingham, Teaching About Terrorism Response to FOI 1, Powerbase