Field trip to Glasgow for Social Science students
School pupils studying an Introduction to Criminology course at Ayrshire College recently went on a trip to Glasgow’s infamous ‘Square Mile of Murder’.
The ‘Square Mile of Murder’ relates to an area of west-central Glasgow where four murders took place between 1857 and 1908.
The Introduction to Criminology school-college course is for S4, S5 and S6 pupils, and is studied at the Kilwinning Campus. This is the first time the course has involved a visit to the Charing Cross crime scenes, and it will now become an annual trip for students on this course. The pupils felt the Glasgow visit helped them apply their understanding of criminology.
To help better understand the role of the press in murder cases, the pupils also visited the Mitchell Library, where archivists had laid out a display of articles and letters relating to each of the four murders – which occurred between 1857 and 1908.
Andrew Sinclair, the Social Science lecturer who organised the trip, said: “In order to capture the sense of impact that the media had on these murders, we had the students embark on some journalistic headlines of their own. Such was the impression on library staff, they have asked for the articles to be forwarded with a view to perhaps being part of a future presentation at the library.
“As a result of the visit all pupils were offered membership of the library. I think they are the first Ayrshire school pupils to have been given such an offer, which I hope many will utilise particularly if they are heading to university, it’s a great place to study.
“Three of the murders relating to the ‘Square Mile of Murder’ are essentially unresolved – and despite our best efforts they still remain so!”
25 March 2020
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