Punishment for crimes and attaching monetary value to cultural events were the topics for the most recent talks in the Sixth Form Academic Lecture Programme.
Expert criminologist Paul French explored how society should seek to make the right choices when dealing with offenders. The talk covered the purposes of punishment, ranging from prison to historic uses of corporal and capital punishment. Girls were also asked for their views and opinions on a topic that can often generate high passions and heated comments in the press.
Paul - soon to be Dr French on the award of his PhD - lectures at Chester University and considered the wide range of options when addressing criminal behaviour, and also how many of the punishments given out do not necessarily lead to a reduction in offending.
Sarah Louisa Phythian-Adams took as her topic the difficult task of working out the economic value brought to society from cultural activities such as live music events. The Liverpool University lecturer in Economics and Management - herself an old girl from Queen's - has been heavily involved in using sophisticated mathematical techniques to value major events such as last year's Eurovision Song Contest which took place in Liverpool.
Dr Phythian-Adams also spoke about her own path that took her to her position as senior lecturer in Economics and director of Liverpool University's BSc Economics degrees, having previously worked in high-powered financial contexts as an actuarial consultant and also running her own consulting firm.
