Dead Politicians' Society

For those outside the School of Social and Political Science at Edinburgh University, Elizabeth Bomberg is a largely unfamiliar figure.

However, as an out-of-the-ordinary teacher, she represents something that all students hope for and all teachers aspire to be. Also, as education at Edinburgh’s universities becomes more expensive for RUK students, good teaching is something that all students will no longer hope for but demand. Bomberg is the classic university educator - she is engaged in her subject, academic and intelligent. However she warns me that students need to have realistic expectations of studies at university.

Bomberg grew up in a household surrounded by education and teachers. “My parents were firm believers in the importance of an education...although their emphasis wasn't necessarily on academia. My mother is a teacher, my sisters are teachers, we’re all engaged in education. It is in my blood.” Bomberg studied at a small branch of California State University and then conducted research at the renowned University of California.

“I went to two different universities in California. One was a state university – teaching with less an emphasis on research, more an emphasis teaching – for my postgraduate work I went to the University of California which emphasises research much more. I think I was inspired at my state university in Chico, this very small town in Northern California, I was inspired by my teachers there to pursue this idea, my interest in research.”

It is clear that the inspiration that Bomberg received at university is something she wishes to replicate for others. In 2009 Bomberg received a EUSA teaching award as an ‘Overall High Performer’. For Bomberg it is simple enough: a good teacher should inspire students. “To inspire students to work independently, to inspire students to think critically, to inspire students to work with one another. That is the important quality of teaching, which is especially needed at university level.”

Yet it is clear that for the many students coming to study at university, especially for the RUK students who will be paying anything from £6,500 to £9,000 pounds a year for their higher education, the expectation might be more than as someone to bounce ideas off. She assures me that research makes for better teaching and a better university experience for undergrads.

“I think potentially it can be and should be a strength, because there is a perception that it is ‘either or’. That either you’re teaching or you’re researching, but you couldn’t possibly do both and that one takes you away from the other. The more we can link teaching and research together the better. For instance, I’ve been on research leave this term and I haven’t be able to teach – I’ve missed it a lot, by the way – but I have been doing this really interesting research on local energy groups, so instead of just saying that is over, I’m going back to teach now, I’m going to use some of those ideas in my environmental politics course next year.”

“The problem with research and teaching, is in my view, less a matter of researchers not wanting to teach, but that more needs to be done to capture the synergies and re-shape incentives, so that those who spend a lot of time and effort on teaching are rewarded.”

Bomberg is adamant that it involves both parties, “It is important that academics as well as students, do all they can to think of the synergies between those two really important tasks...it is about feedback, but the other way around, I understand the desire for feedback, but the feedback for staff on lectures or tutorials is also immensely valuable.”

Tuition over a four-year degree at the University of Edinburgh will cost nearly £10,000 more than some of its fellow Edinburgh universities. Bomberg clearly feels uncomfortable to discuss a university education in this way: “I find don’t find it terribly useful to view it in monetary terms," she says, arguing that individuals shouldn’t look at university in terms of how much it costs but what suits them irrespective of cost.

“The choice of university is really important and you have all these factors to weight up and now you have a additional factor which you didn’t need to worry about before, as the cost was the same. I really do think the different universities have different characteristics, which suit some students and don’t suit others.”

However, there is a deeper issue within the increase in RUK fees that seems to make Bomberg a believer in the traditional view that university is about the road to self-development. “University education is an unbelievable opportunity not just to learn knowledge, but also to really deepen your understanding not just of the subjects but of the human condition and of life.

“It is through that interaction you find at university, the diversity of views, subjects, students, staff, ideas and activities all that bound together in university that can really push students into thinking about life differently”.

“My fear is that the potential negative implications would be, in my view, to see university education increasingly become a commodity for sale, so it something that has a monetary value, that you go to university to acquire skills to better compete in the job market. That has always been a part of university, but it hasn’t always been the main purpose.”

It is this belief in the ability of university to create understanding, diverse and thoughtful individuals that is Bomberg’s defining view on the value of university. She looks beyond the cost of university to see the value of how university can develop the individual.

While Bomberg is a dedicated teacher and a fiercely intelligent academic, she is as warm and laidback as the state where her roots lie - and as to whether she misses the California sun. “Absolutely, but it’s all worth it,” she stays with a volcanic laugh as the rain pours outside her office window.