Category Archives: Education

Murder, Mirth and Care Bears: The uses of an Oxford English degree

Posted on February 13, 2013 by samiraahmed

Writing for news bulletins, writing for standup comedy, writing murders for tv drama, writing for comics and fantasy gaming novels. These were some of the uses to which a group of graduates from my old Oxford College have put our … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Comedy, Comics/graphic novels, Culture, Education, Media, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Anglos, Diphthongs & Perfect Snogging: Saving the German A-level

Posted on August 22, 2012 by samiraahmed

This piece was written for The Guardian in August 2012, after A-level results showed the number of UK students taking German had declined to below 5,000 for the first time. There were also significant drops in French and other modern … Continue reading →

Posted in Comedy, Culture, Education, Film, Germany, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can we laugh about this? Race on film

Posted on March 21, 2012 by samiraahmed

I spent an hour with the Film Club charity in Battersea Park School in South London today,(I’m a trustee) discussing the treatment of race and racism on film. It was Anti-Racism Day, apparently. I chose clips from a sample of … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Comedy, Education, Film, Media, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Raise your kids the David Bowie way

Posted on January 7, 2012 by samiraahmed

As a child David Bowie frightened me. I mean, really frightened me. The lyrics to Space Oddity, overheard on the radio,  left me in existential torment for the lingering death of Major Tom. Then there were those creepy emaciated illustrations on his 70s album … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Education, Film, Germany, Music, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Afghanistan: NATO’s 10 year feminist experiment

Posted on October 7, 2011 by samiraahmed

This is some of the further detail from my feature for today’s Guardian that was not in the final edit. It makes reference to two major  reports on women and Afghanistan put out this week by Action Aid and  Oxfam. … Continue reading →

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The Swingeing (cuts) 80s: Lessons from The Ghost Town Generation

Posted on June 30, 2011 by samiraahmed

They were playing the jaunty TV theme tune to “Jeeves and Wooster” on Monday night when guests walked into the Financial Times summer party at Lancaster House near Green Park in London. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed … Continue reading →

Posted in Business/Economics, Culture, Education, Film, Music, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

High risk, obviously. Blokeanomics? – Winning on shares

Posted on May 27, 2011 by samiraahmed

I was fascinated by an interview with two Cardiff schoolboys on Radio 4 this morning. Their school team had won a national “Shares for Schools” competition and two of them were interviewed  in the business slot about how they’d outperformed … Continue reading →

Posted in Business/Economics, Children, Education, Radio, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Truth About The Jam Generation (80s remix)

Posted on May 10, 2011 by samiraahmed

Since David Cameron claimed class war anthem “Eton Rifles” as one his Desert Island Discs, many political journalists seem to have bought the argument that they are “The Jam Generation”; the subject of a recent Radio 4 series. It seemed … Continue reading →

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Prevention in Pakistan: Cameron’s new strategy?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by samiraahmed

This is my post for Channel 4 News about David Cameron’s announcement of £650 million in education aid.  Amid all the fuss about Libya, has the Coalition Government’s smartest foreign policy decision been made quietly  and efficiently? The Prime Minister’s visit … Continue reading →

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How to re-programme your children in 6 easy steps.

Posted on March 15, 2011 by samiraahmed

I’m of the generation supposed to be blessed with the Golden Age of children’s TV (the 70s and early 80s).  Fortunate enough to be on the Royal Television Society jury judging Children’s TV and TV Drama this year, I was delighted to see … Continue reading →

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