Dr Simon Usherwood

National Teaching Fellow 2015 Alongside his role as Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts & Human Sciences, Dr Simon Usherwood is a Senior Lecturer in Politics. Despite this job title, Simon fell into Politics as a subject almost by accident: a chance conversation with a lecturer on his Modern European Studies degree at University College London resulted in him taking a masters in European Politics at the College of Europe in Bruges and then on to the London School of Economics for a PhD on euroscepticism. Simon was able to take these varied experiences into the creation of a new Department of Politics at Surrey, where the possibilities of building new programmes and modules from a clean sheet were enthusiastically embraced. In ten years, Simon has played a central role in taking the department to the top of the National Student Survey, with a programme that offers students a wide range of learning opportunities, including simulation games. These are central to Simon's work, letting students take on different roles, research, present and defend them, allowing them not only discover the subject, but also start to think about how to interact with it and each other. Consistently singled out by students as a valuable and enjoyable experience, it has also been a rich environment in which to consider new ways of helping students become active participants in university and in society. Simon has also taken his work out of the classroom with extensive activities on- and off-line, to support colleagues in many different institutions in developing their own use of simulations, and to create a wide array of resources for people to use. His collaborations with US and European partners have resulted in substantial research funding, publications and several workshops. This work has led Simon into a series of roles within Surrey where he has been able to share good practice with colleagues and embed it in an increasing number of programmes, including a Liberal Arts and Sciences degree that spans the university.