18
From Plato to Nato:
The Foundation Year
Written by Tony Burton, with Paul Elmhirst, Diana
Heller, John Mosesson, Eric Sorensen and Robin Soldan
In February this year, I and a number of my
chums - John Mosesson, Eric Sorenson,
Diana Heller, Robin Soldan and Paul
Elmhirst - returned to Keele and asked the
question: What of our Foundation Year?
The question we found was not only
welcomed but also timely, and the University
leaders were able to share with us how Lord
Lindsay’s vision is alive today and forms the
bedrock of the new University strategic plan.
Many of us look back with gratitude to the
Foundation Year (FY) at Keele. It gave us all
the chance to participate in lectures from the
best in each department of the University.
You will perhaps remember, every morning
we were offered two lectures given by top
flight staff from different departments in the
University. Each lecture allowed time for
questions, and in the afternoons tutorials
were held on subjects which changed each
term. Numbers were of course much smaller
than today which meant that all foundation
year students could assemble in the Walter
Moberly lecture hall.
We all agreed that we gained three key
benefits from the Foundation Year which
had a great influence on our studies and our
future lives:
The first was the chance to learn cutting
edge knowledge in a range of subjects from
‘Plato to Nato’ and we recalled the insights
gained from this breadth of study.
The second benefit was that three terms
were spent understanding different
disciplines and this gave us excellent
grounds on which
to select our final
degree courses.
The other factor
of immense value
was the tutorial
system in which
we learned to
challenge and
defend ideas;
a training that prepared us for our future
careers.
Some of us commented that we had
chosen Keele specifically because of the
offer of the Foundation Year. This, together
with the benefits of living on the beautiful
campus, allowed us to participate in all
aspects of university life and meant that we
experienced, to the full, the vision that Lord
Lindsay set out when he founded Keele.
There still exists a Foundation Year
offering which is, in part, similar to our own
experience, and is increasingly popular;
it is presently under review to ensure it is
true to its origins as well as being future-fit.
In addition, those founding principles are
practised today in the three themes of the
University research institutes (Sustainable
Futures, Global Health and Social Inclusion),
and within the standalone undergraduate
degrees in Natural Science and Institute of
Liberal Arts & Sciences.
There are so many pressures on universities
and we believe strongly that Keele is a
distinct and important offering to the higher
education sector. In times such as these,