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6th Session ENLIGHT webinar series: discussing diversity, inclusion and racism (14 April)

This webinar series provides an interactive platform to discuss and exchange best practices and develop initiatives that foster diversity and encourage global citizenship.The sessions are open to staff and students of all ENLIGHT partners as well as their respective local communities. 

The 6th session of the webinar series focuses on 'Diversity and Discrimation: From Recognition to Consideration'  The session is hosted by the University of Bordeaux and will take place on 14 April (16h00-18h00 CET). Register for the zoom session!

Diversity is a reality across Europe sparking debates on its meaning and its impacts on society. It is recent though, that universities have to take into account as an institution how diversity challenges our understanding of globalization, migration, gender, race and identity. Concepts and movements like decolonisation, Black Lives Matter, and systemic racism underline the inherent dynamics of power.

Universities, as institutions of knowledge committed to equality, have a leading role in empowering and supporting our staff and students to engage in critical discussions on concepts challenging the orthodoxy. Equally, Universities today embody diversity with a community of students and staff from multiple identities, histories and geographies. The challenge of how to ensure respect, inclusion and safety of all members of this diverse community is today’s urgent priority moving commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion into concrete practices.

Schedule

Each monthly seminar (90 minutes) is hosted by one of the ENLIGHT partners. The schedule of webinars includes

{slider Thu 21 October 2021, 16:00 – 17:30: (U)Gent and decolonisation – a critical perspective (Ghent University)}

Both at Ghent University and in the City of Ghent, initiatives have been taken to reflect on our colonial past and to develop a process of decolonising the university and the city. In this webinar, key stakeholders of these various processes will discuss the way forward and they will interactively engage in some critical introspection.

  • Moderator: Olave Basabose (HoGent)
  • Decolonisation at UGent – the institution’s perspective (Badra Djait, Coordinator Diversity and Gender, Ghent University)
  • Decolonisation at UGent – the students’ perspective (Philsan Osman, Student in African Studies at Ghent University)
  • Decolonisation at UGent – the employee's perspective (Ama Kissi, post-doctoral researcher at Ghent University)
  • Decolonisation at the City of Ghent (Tine Heyse, Alderman for International Solidarity, City of Ghent)
  • Decolonisation at the City of Ghent - a critical perspective (Lidvine Munyankiko Niyomubyeyi)
  • Discussion

https://uni-goettingen.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QJTn5AbARhSVmRgAJF5yfw

{slider Tue 9 November 2021, 16:00 – 17:30: Towards a socially safe academic environment (University of Groningen)}

The University of Groningen (UG) will briefly go into the how and what of the UG’s Diversity and Inclusion Office (TBD), and into UG's existing policies regarding integrity, social safety, (unconscious) bias and related speech/behaviour in the workplace. All these endeavours are part of UG's path to maintain and improve a socially safe academic environment. How to navigate this with different target audiences in the community?

Two speakers will then introduce the following topics, as input for a general discussion on how to generate and implement change (how to go from policy to practice):

  1. How to raise staff awareness on these matters (management, academic staff and support staff), and how to train bystanders in addressing inappropriate behaviour (Marloes Siccama)
  2. How to make staff and students aware of their own and others’ biases and differences via curricular or extracurricular training (Ella Sebamalai)

Moderator: Prof. Ron Holzhacker

https://uni-goettingen.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_L1hQdZHBSSS3PlJiZV2HdA

{slider Tue 7 December 2021, 13:00 – 14:30: Reflecting diversity globally – Imageries of the Global South (Göttingen University)}

The registration for the Göttingen Webinar is closed

The webinar aims at a critical reflection on the imageries that we use in our work in an international context to represent people and countries of the Global South. We want to equip the participants with tools for dismantling stereotypical narratives and images and provide them with ideas of adequate representations in a post-colonial context. We therefore will look especially at racist stereotyping in images of Asia, Africa or Latin America.

Content:

  • Input on racist imageries and post-colonial narratives of the Global South
  • Part 1 (Breakout session): Tools for a critical analysis of visual language
  • Part 2 (Breakout session): How to re:present the Global South? Tools for a diversity conscious visual language

https://uni-goettingen.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYoc-moqjwqHdS1rnEp3AQqHBVAr_drZqu8

{slider Thu 24 February 2022 , 15.00 – 16.30 GMT: Supporting an ethos and culture of inclusion through the University of Sanctuary movement and programme at NUI Galway (National University of Ireland, Galway)}

The National University of Ireland, Galway has undertaken a series of strategies to develop, nurture, and sustain a welcoming environment on campus, particularly for those in Direct Provision and members of the Irish Traveller community. These strategies encompass an on-going institution-wide response to the unprecedented global refugee crisis and low levels of participation in higher education among the Irish Traveller community, and to provide access to higher education opportunities at NUI Galway.

This webinar will take participants through the institutional strategies taken to achieve ‘University of Sanctuary’ status and introduce some of the individuals and organisations that have both benefitted and contributed.

Register via https://nuigalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ikEKAN-fQJK8nf8XiyvIyQ

{slider Tue 22 March 2022, 16.30 – 18.00 CET: 'Diversity - Identification, Grievability and the Limits of a Conversation?' (Uppsala University)}

In this seminar, Dr. hc. Lilian Thuram - Founder of Thuram Foundation against Racism - and Dr. Patricial Lorenzoni - researcher at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism (CEMFOR) will discuss ''diversity' and its challenges: How is the idea of “diversity” used? How does its usage affect different people? What are its potentials, dangers, and limits? Can it be a useful tool for inclusion? In this webinar, Dr. hc. Lilian Thuram – Founder of Thuram Foundation against Racism – and Dr. Patricia Lorenzoni – researcher at Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism will discuss “diversity” and its challenges.

Moderator: Véronique Simon, senior lecturer at the Department of Pedagogy, Didactics and Educational Studies, Uppsala University

Download the poster for more information

The recording the of the webinar can viewed via https://media.medfarm.uu.se/play/video/14973/ok

{slider Thu 14 April 2022, 16.00 – 18.00 CET: Diversity and discrimination at the university: from recognition to consideration (University of Bordeaux)}

Why is the notion of discrimination new in European societies? Why should we not confuse discrimination with inequality? What are the types of discrimination and how can they be combated? In this webinar Yamina Meziani (Equality Officer), Eric Macé (Vice-President of the University of Bordeaux and Professor of Sociology), Marion Paoletti (Head of the European gender equality programme RESET) and Marie des Neiges Léonard (Lecturer in Sociology) discuss the paradoxes, advantages and limits of the notion.

Moderator:
Christine Larrazet, Centre Emile Durkheim, University of Bordeaux

{/sliders}

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