Social Policy

In 2019, first year International Social and Public Policy students restarted the Social Policy Society. We believed that our department and our field of study needed representation within the Student Union at LSE. We became fully committed to building this society from the ground up. Our aim is to support and enrich the social and educational university experience of each member, expanding our understanding of Social Policy and building a student’s community. Our first year was very developmental as we needed to structure the society. We decided to form four distinct branches to appeal to as many students as possible and provide ample opportunities for events.First, the Charity Sub-committee looks to directly work with volunteer and charity based organisations that support sustainable social policies within the London community. This could be anything from revising policy agendas within small volunteering initiates that are just starting up on campus, to going to local refugee centres to give talks on cultural relativism. As the "Social" Policy Society we want to ensure that we put our efforts towards the direct betterment of society: volunteerism is one of the best ways to do that. Next, the Education Sub-committee is based within the Social Policy department to take the curriculum beyond the seminars, lectures, and readings lists.The education branch aims to expand the knowledge base of members and ISPP students through engaging competitions, events, and independent explorations. We aim to broaden people's paradigms within the field of social and public policy, looking at different international social policy and introspectively revising our own conceptions of society. Moreover, a lot of social policy studies at LSE are UK based, so enabling students to choose to focus on international policy allows us to collectively pursue other individual interests.The Networking sub-committee aims to connect undergraduates, postgraduates, PhD students, alumni, and professionals to develop members’ future outlooks, build community and share ideas. This includes inviting inspirational and prominent figure in the field to LSE to give talks and engage with society members. The aim is to create streams that allow members to learn from one another and connect on a far more regular basis than they currently are. These streams include receptions and events that will bring bring the community together, as well as online networking platforms. Recently, we've been planning a Social Policy conference that we are exited to be hosting in MT of 2020.Last, we want to increase the sense of community through hosting in-person and virtual events for society members and affiliates through the Social Sub-committee. We also want to entertain a social aspect of the society, planning more casual events that will bring social policy enthusiasts together. This social aspect will hopefully be relaxed, and prompt students from other departments to mingle with the society.The SPS is a new and inclusive society, open to change and creativity. We are very excited to welcome all new ISPP students to LSE for the 2020-2021 academic year, and are hoping that the SPS can be a hub that makes your time at LSE that much more fun and comfortable. Membership The Social Policy Society has a core committee that includes the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Event's Coordinator. We then have the Sub-committee officers who are an integral part of maintaining and organising the structure of the society. There are no variations in memberships, and everyone has an equal opportunity to get as involved as they please. This society can be solely social for you, or you may get heavily involved in more than one sub-committee. We want to welcome everyone in with open arms, and allow you to decide how involved you want to get.The membership fee is 2.50 pounds and will go towards society events (so really, you're investing in yourself). Most societies cap their membership fee at 2.00, but being the Social Policy Society, we all know that that extra 50p of tax goes a long way to benefitting the collective. Events and Activities Over the year, each sub-committee is responsible for the different events hosted by the Social Policy society. These include:Charity Booths in front of the SU to fundraise for the charities we represent Social Policy charity day Policy workshops with charity organisationsEducation Movie nights Theatre workshops Policy competitionsNetworking Social Policy Conference Online networking platform Guest speaker events Communal receptions with professorsSocial Pub crawls Game days Common room lunches.