Faculty of Social Sciences Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference
The Faculty of Social Sciences is delighted to announce their first Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference. The conference will consist of a range of online events (see below) across the month of May, and is open to all staff and students from across the institution. Events include a wide range of topics to cover teaching, research, workforce, race equality and student experience.
Thank you to the fantastic conference team members for their work in planning the events: Dr Neema Begum, Mia Bellusova, Gregory Clement, Dr Kerryn Dixon, Edward Hammond, Dr Simona Spedale Latimer, Dr Yuwei Xu and Dr Denise Sweeney.
Please note: Access to the links for these events requires registration. Please click on the links to register.
Opening Keynote from Professor Kalwant Bhopal
Wednesday 4 May 2022, 3 to 4pm
The Faculty of Social Sciences EDI Conference will be opened by Professor Todd Landman, Faculty PVC, and Professor Katherine Linehan, PVC for EDI and People. The keynote address, titled ‘Black and minority ethnic experiences in higher education: social justice, inclusion and white privilege’ will be given by Professor Kalwant Bhopal. This event will also include a short Q&A session with Professor Bhopal.
Bhopal is Professor of Education and Social Justice at the University of Birmingham. She is a Professorial Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education in the School of Education.
Bhopal’s research focuses on the achievements and experiences of minority ethnic groups in education. She has conducted research on exploring discourses of identity and intersectionality examining the lives of Black minority ethnic groups as well as examining the marginal position of Gypsies and Travellers. Her research specifically explores how processes of racism, exclusion and marginalisation operate in predominantly White spaces with a focus on social justice and inclusion.
More recently she has conducted research focussing on the position of minority ethnic academics in higher education. Her research on this area has been used to inform policy making in higher education, particularly the development of the Race Equality Charter mark. She has published nine books, 10 edited collections and various journal articles.
Understanding the landscape of social science research
Wednesday 11 May 2022, 11am to 1pm
This online event is part of the Faculty of Social Sciences Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Conference 2022 at the University of Nottingham. It aims to bring together academics and research students from across social sciences disciplines, to explore how social science research can address EDI challenges in societies and institutions.
The event will include:
- An overview on current EDI-related research in the Faculty of Social Science’s seven schools
- Breakout-room discussions with colleagues from across schools, focusing on how the schools can work together to develop interdisciplinary social sciences projects addressing EDI challenges
- Plenary summaries on next steps for the Faculty’s EDI research development
All staff members and students interested in EDI-related research are welcome.
- 11 to 11.05am Welcome introduction
- 11.05 to 11.15am School of Sociology and Social Policy, Professor Alison Pilnick
- 11.15 to 1.25am Nottingham University Business School, Professor Tracey Warren
- 11.25 to 11.35am School of Economics, Dr Rahul Mukherjee
- 11.35 to 11.45am School of Law, Professor Peter Cartwright and Dr Chloe Holloway
- 11.50am to 12 noon School of Education, Dr Kay Fuller
- 12 noon to 12.10pm School of Geography, Dr Stephanie Coen
- 12.10 to 12.20pm School of Politics and International Relations, Professor Rory Cormac
Together we research for an equal, diverse, and inclusive world!
Spotlight on EDI initiatives in the workplace: opportunities and challenges
Tuesday 17 May 2022, 2 to 3pm
In this session, we will be joined by panellists who will reflect on workforce oriented EDI initiatives that are taking place in the Faculty of Social Sciences. This will be followed by a discussion about experiences and factors that still impede the realisation of an equal, diverse and inclusive workplace.
Speakers
Sphere challenges and beyond
Dr Isobel O’Neil, Sphere Challenge Chair 2021-22 for ‘Supporting Women* during Covid and its aftermath’, will share her experiences of piloting the Women’s Career Support Groups, an initiative to support women in the FoSS which ran in 2021. Isobel will also cover the Carers’ Champion role which she’s held since 2021 within the Business School.
‘Thrive or survive?’
Dr Kay Fuller will recount her experience of taking part in one of the Women’s Career Support Groups.
Athena Swan – moving beyond the tick box exercise
In this brief talk, Dr Jeannie Holstein will cover the challenges and opportunities afforded by equality accreditation schemes such as Athena Swan. Based on reflections in NUBS and the wider Business School Athena Swan network in the UK, she will provoke questions around how useful Athena Swan is to equality, diversity, and inclusion, including its sometimes perverse effects. Taking a strategic change approach, she will conclude by offering some ‘remedies’ for turning Athena Swan and other equality accreditation schemes into an integrated and structural tool for change.
Building an inclusive culture by listening to ECR voices and experiences in NUBS
In this talk, Professor Mihaela Kelemen will reflect on a number of EDI challenges facing Early Career Researchers in NUBS and suggest possible avenues for building a more inclusive culture which accounts for their experiences and aspirations for the future.
Student experience: Collaborative Hackathon
The Faculty of Social Science's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) conference has students, teaching and administrative staff working collaboratively in teams to develop learning and teaching resources rapidly in the spirit of a 'hacking marathon'. These teams will generate meaningful, long-lasting, interdisciplinary and accessible resources that support students to thrive in their learning across a range of topics. These resources will be shared with colleagues across the faculty using the 'open education resource' principle where colleagues will be able to use, share and modify the resources to their needs through the ‘Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)’ creative commons licence.
You are cordially invited to the ‘hackathon showcase’. This celebratory online event is where each team will showcase their resource. Special guests (the judging panel) will provide feedback and award teams with ‘the most innovative resource award’, ‘the most transferable resource award’ and ‘the most evidence-based resource award’. Audience members will be able to vote for the ‘audience choice award’. Prizes will be given to the team who gains the most votes from the audience. Please come along and support the teams by registering to the showcase. All are welcome!
The judging panel are:
- Helen Williams
- Jalpa Ruparelia
- Sidney Muhangi
Showcase event: Tuesday 24 May, 1 to 2pm
Demystifying decolonising the curriculum
Insights from teaching practices in the faculty panel discussion and launch of faculty guidelines for critical actions and reflection
Thursday 26 May 2022, 3 to 4.30pm
One of the FoSS’s Sphere challenges is to focus on Decolonising the Curriculum. But what does this mean in practice? The decolonial turn has brought with it new ways of thinking and language to go with it that are not always clear. It is also not just about theorising but a call to action.
This panel discussion aims to demystify some of the key concepts outlined in the Faculty’s ‘Reconfiguring ways of being, knowing and doing: A Guide for Critical Reflection and Action towards Decolonising the Curriculum and creating a more inclusive and equitable institution’ by showing how they can be taken up in practice. Join us for a panel discussion with colleagues from a range of schools in the Faculty talk about how they demystify some of the core ideas around the decolonial turn and work with these principles in their teaching.
Speakers
- Speaker 1: Shardia Briscoe-Palmer (School of Sociology)
- Speaker 2: Anna Meier (School of Politics and International Relations)
- Speaker 3: Charlie Davis (School of Education)
- Speaker 4: Thamil Ananthavinayagan (School of Law)