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Nathan Ryding

BA (Hons) Politics and Criminology

Professional image of Nathan ryding

University helps you discover who you really are and what you really believe in.

To say it’s an interesting time to study politics would be an understatement. Politics has never affected the everyday lives of the entire population in the same way as it has over the last few years. You can’t leave your house without engaging with politics in some way. As someone who has been politically engaged from a young age, as well as being intrigued by the criminal mind, this joint-honours degree was perfect for me.

I was introduced to politics at school, but it was when I left school and joined the army that politics really began to resonate with me. When I left the army, I became active in local and national politics, standing in elections.

When I came to an open day at Edge Hill, I felt reassured there was no bias and people of any political persuasion are welcomed and supported. I recognised my ideology and opinion might be in a minority at university, so impartial teaching was really important to me.

Throughout the course we are given the key facts and encouraged to make our own minds up. We might all support different political parties, but the majority of people I’ve come across are against the divisive nature of today’s politics and want to do what they can to change that. University helps you discover who you really are and what you really believe in.

Criminology modules allow you to look at everything from every angle. Alongside politics I’ve enjoyed learning about the various criminology theories, such as the study of pain and harm and what effects they have. It’s fascinating and really makes you think.

I was the founder and first president of the Edge Hill Politics Society, and through this I made friends with people from all political backgrounds. The key to this is engaging in healthy and sensible debate, as well as having a mutual respect for each other. That’s one of the good things about studying here, you can voice your opinion without fear of being criticised, attacked or shut down.