Interrogating Spaces

This polyvocal podcast tells the story so far of Inquilab / Ink-Lab; an alternative reading group based at University of the Arts London.

Outraged by the brutal murder of George Floyd many individuals within higher education (HE) were incensed, leading to a collective realisation of the imperative for transformative action. In response, Dr. Gurnam Singh, Jheni Arboine, and a small cohort of UAL staff and students made a decisive commitment to establish a distinctive reading group—Inquilab. This group distinguishes itself by embracing an unapologetically radical approach, with its foundation rooted in the principles of decolonisation, anti-racism, and flattened hierarchies. Inquilab's primary objective is to foster an authentic space where UAL staff and students can converge, encouraging the exploration and contemplation of radical pedagogy and practices within a supportive, open, and organic space.

In this podcast we hear from Inquilab’s founders about the context, values and ideas that were behind its beginnings and how it has since developed into its 3rd year. Participants and contributors tell us what brings them back and how the unique qualities and approaches that Inquilab embraces makes it a very different kind of discursive space. We hear about what it means to be able to bring your true self to a studio setting and how that fundamentally reconfigures hierarchies to create a greater sense of belonging and community for both staff and students.

Contributors:
Jheni Arboine
Nadia Idle
Deshna Mehta
Dr Gurnam Singh
Dr. Manrutt Wongkaew

Music:
Thank you to Shaheed Bhai Mewa Singh for allowing us to use their music in this podcast

Sound recordings credits:
Tim Kahn for the recordings of a Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Oregon, 7th June 2020

Production and Editing:
This podcast has been created and edited by Gemma Riggs

In this episode of interrogating spaces, Dr Emily Salines takes us on an exploration of feedback practice, and how we might take a more compassionate approach.

The impact of feedback on student learning is well documented in educational literature. We also know that it is a critical area of practice where the emotional impact of assessment is at play. We speak with a number of practitioners, teachers and students to set out to map a framework for compassionate feedback practice and how we might enact it

The questions we are asking are:

• How can we harness feedback to support learning in a way that does no harm and supports students?
• How can we use feedback to foster belonging?
• Can compassion help us? And what would compassionate feedback look like?

This work is part of the QAA collaborative enhancement project on ‘Belonging through assessment: pipelines of compassion’ with UAL, Glasgow School of Art and Leeds Arts University.

Speakers:

Liz Bunting is an Educational Developer at University of the Arts London, where she co-leads a programme of educational development on Fostering Belonging and Compassionate Pedagogy. She supports colleagues in creating educational ecosystems that promote social justice through compassionate cultures, policies and practices. Her research investigates belonging, compassion and trauma informed care in Higher Education.

Vikki Hill is an Educational Developer: Attainment (Identity and Cultural Experience) in the Academic Enhancement Team at University of the Arts London (UAL). A Senior Fellow of the HEA, Vikki works with staff to support equitable outcomes and experiences for students. Vikki’s research is focused on educational development, compassionate assessment, pedagogies and policies through arts-based and posthuman approaches.

Dr Emily Salines is a former member of the Academic Enhancement Team at UAL, where, as Educational Developer she co-led the Enhancing Assessment for Equity strand of Academic Enhancement work until September 22. She is now Head of Education Programmes at Queen Mary Academy (Queen Mary University of London). Her research focuses on assessment design, assessment for social justice and approaches to compassionate feedback.

Dr Anna Troisi is Course Leader for the BSc Creative Computing at the Creative Computing Institute (CCI), UAL. Anna is a member of the UAL Ethics Research committee. Her initiatives to promote social justice with the introduction of non-violent communication enhanced students’ experience and enabled students’ agency in the curriculum.

Dr Victoria Odeniyi is a Decolonising Arts Institute research fellow where she leads the Reimagining Conversations research project which seeks to raise critical awareness of the educational and creative potential of the use of language. She has research and professional interests in educational inequality, linguistic diversity and institutionalised knowledge production and how these issues intersect with race and identity.

Student contributions:
Simbi Juwon-Sulaiman: Graphic Communication, Central St Martins, UAL
Amina Akhmedova: Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL

In this shorter, edited version of the podcast, we hear from three students about their experience of taking part in Creative Shift’s Women+ of Colour in Leadership (W+CinL) live brief project (2022).

W+CinL is a 10-week project designed to inspire and empower UAL students who identify as female. Giving 15 students an opportunity to develop different aspects of leadership through leadership coaching delivered by Jannett Morgan, Director of JM Learning & Skills, while applying their learnings to an industry live brief. This year we worked with PR agency, Hope&Glory and their client LinkedIn, students designed and presented a PR campaign representing barriers women face in the workplace.

For more about the Women+ in Leadership programme see our webpage here.

Credits / references

Podcast host

Debra Chosen is a highly-experienced communications expert; who has worked across Social Media & Marketing for 8 years including a range of sectors such as fashion and beauty, property and also charity. Carefully crafting brand messages from strategy through to content creation, Debra’s career has orbited around telling stories that engage and provoke human connection. She is currently working as Global Content Manager for Dove at Unilever and hosts Trusting The Process, the podcast that celebrates black women doing big things.

Participants

Davinia Clarke – BA Hons Illustration and Visual Media student
Jade Milton-Baptiste – BA Hons Design Management graduate
Pearl Gerald – BA Hons Graphic and Media Design student

Sound Engineering and Production: Hannah Kemp-Welch

In this podcast we hear from three students about their experience of taking part in Creative Shift’s Women+ of Colour in Leadership (W+CinL) live brief project (2022).

W+CinL is a 10-week project designed to inspire and empower UAL students who identify as female. Giving 15 students an opportunity to develop different aspects of leadership through leadership coaching delivered by Jannett Morgan, Director of JM Learning & Skills, while applying their learnings to an industry live brief. This year we worked with PR agency, Hope&Glory and their client LinkedIn, students designed and presented a PR campaign representing barriers women face in the workplace.

For more about the Women+ in Leadership programme see our webpage here.

Credits / references

Podcast host

Debra Chosen is a highly-experienced communications expert; who has worked across Social Media & Marketing for 8 years including a range of sectors such as fashion and beauty, property and also charity. Carefully crafting brand messages from strategy through to content creation, Debra’s career has orbited around telling stories that engage and provoke human connection. She is currently working as Global Content Manager for Dove at Unilever and hosts Trusting The Process, the podcast that celebrates black women doing big things.

Participants

Davinia Clarke – BA Hons Illustration and Visual Media student
Jade Milton-Baptiste – BA Hons Design Management graduate
Pearl Gerald – BA Hons Graphic and Media Design student

Sound Engineering and Production: Hannah Kemp-Welch

In this episode of Interrogating Spaces Dr Amita Nijhawan introduces the LCC student Changemakers, a group of student consultants who work with course leaders and course teams to bring more social justice into the curriculum. They are a community of students and alumni who inform pedagogic development through a decolonial lens.

Here, their perspectives and experiences are brought together in a polyvocal assemblage. Amongst many topics, they talk about race, equality, the complexities and sensitivities of social justice work and most importantly what it is to be a student in the current cultural climate.

Credits/ references:

Student Changemakers: Veronica Amon, Terena Danner and Emilio Gotterbarm

Questions and Facilitation: Dr Amita Nijhawan

Sound Engineering and Production: Emmanuel Aouad and Hannah Kemp-Welch

Assistance: Disha Deshpande
Music: Way-to-West by Ketsa

In this podcast we hear from two international students about their experience of studying at UAL, specifically at Central St Martins. They give valuable insights as well as tips for tutors and incoming students. This podcast was made by the Student Imaginators, a cross-college group of students and alumni at UAL, who imagine, create and produce student-facing resources to do with decolonial approaches and compassionate pedagogy.

Credits/ references:

Participants: Mihika Bahety and Vicky Wong

Questions and Facilitation: Dr Amita Nijhawan

Sound Engineering and Production: Hannah Kemp-Welch

In this podcast, Dr Amita Nijhawan speaks with a Graphics, Media and Design (GMD) student at LCC and the GMD Course Support Assistant and former student about their experiences as international students as well as exploring approaches to decolonisation and its link to personal practice and research.

Credits/ references:

Participants: Emmanuel Aouad, Disha Deshpande and Dr Amita Nijhawan

Questions and Facilitation: Dr Amita Nijhawan

Sound Engineering and Production: Hannah Kemp-Welch and Emmanuel Aouad

Music: LA Flux Ride - Wind Talker by Flux Bikes

This panel discussion on pass/fail assessment in arts higher education took place online during the ‘Belonging through assessment: Pipelines of compassion’ symposium on 21st October 2021. The symposium forms part of the QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project 2021 and is a partnership between University of the Arts London (UAL), Glasgow School of Art and Leeds Arts University (LAU). The discussion between invited speakers: Professor Sam Broadhead (LAU), Dr Neil Currant, (UAL) and Peter Hughes, (LAU) is facilitated by Dr Kate Mori (Academic Engagement Manager, QAA).

The discussion explores the potential of pass/fail as a compassionate approach to assessment and explores the challenges in changing practice and policies from the perspective of staff, students and the wider institution. A fascinating conversation that explores the complexities of feedback and assessment and implications for student belonging.

For more information please contact project lead, Vikki Hill at [email protected] or visit: https://belongingthroughassessment.myblog.arts.ac.uk/

Speaker biographies:

Professor Samantha Broadhead:
Samantha Broadhead is Head of Research at Leeds Arts University. Her research interests include access and widening participation in art and design education and the educational sociology of Basil Bernstein (1924–2000). She serves on the Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning’s editorial board. Broadhead publishes work on access and widening participation. Broadhead has co-authored with Professor Maggie Gregson (2018) Practical Wisdom and Democratic Education - Phronesis, Art and Non-traditional Students, Macmillan Palgrave. She also has co-authored with Rosemarie Davies and Anthony Hudson (2019) Perspectives on Access: Practice and Research, Emerald Publishing.

Dr. Neil Currant:
Dr. Neil Currant is an Educational Developer and Senior Fellow HEA. Neil supports new lecturers and postgraduate students with their teaching practices and runs the professional recognition programme at UAL.

Peter Hughes:
Peter Hughes is an educational developer. He is Academic Development Manager at Leeds Arts University and is a National Teaching Fellow.

Dr Kate Mori:
Kate has worked in higher education for the past 20 years, starting as a lecturer and then moving in to course management and leading teaching and learning activities. Her work at the QAA focuses on the quality of teaching and learning and also Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

This podcast tells the story of the two zines on decolonising the Arts curriculum, co-produced by staff and students from UAL and the Arts Student Union. Both Zines make space for the expression of different perspectives and experiences of decolonisation, through a wide variety of media, from the literary to the visual.

Narrator Bios:

Anita Waithira Israel:
Anita is a photographer and alumni of London College of Communication. She recently stepped down as Arts SU Education officer and was instrumental in delivering the second Decolonising the Arts Curriculum Zine. During her time as Education Officer Anita ran a number of successful anti-racist campaigns and she continues to challenge structural inequality through her community based activism. Anita is a multidisciplinary artist whose main focus is documentary photography. She uses her photography to change the negative depictions of race , raise awareness for her community and amplify the black voice.

Lucy Panesar:
Lucy was the academic lead in the production of Zine 1 (2018) whilst she was in the role of Educational Developer (Diversity & Inclusion) at UAL’s Teaching and Learning Exchange. She also contributed original content for Zine 1 and Zine 2 (2019) and is currently managing projects at UAL’s London College of Communication to decolonise curricula as a means of achieving equitable progression and attainment for students.

Rahul Patel:
Rahul is an Associate Lecturer at UAL. He is also a researcher and content developer in contemporary art history and theory. He co-led on Reading Collections: The African-Caribbean, Asian and African Art in Britain Archive and most recently Decolonising Narratives. He co-curated the Decolonising the Arts Curriculum: Perspectives on Higher Education zine1 and 2 with Arts Students Union.


Other Contributors:

Jheni Arboine: Senior Lecturer Academic Enhancement Model
Angela Drisdale-Gordon: Former Head of Further Education at UAL, Retired FE/HE Education and Social Justice Consultant
Dr Silke Lange: Associate Dean of Learning, Teaching and Enhancement, Central Saint Martins
Carole Morrison: Senior Lecturer: Academic Enhancement Model
Dr Clare Warner: Educational Developer within the AEM and Attainment Team at UAL

Key Credits for the Decolonising the Arts Curriculum Zines:
Decolonising the Arts Curriculum Zine is a production of Arts Students' Union and the University of the Arts London, Teaching, Learning and Employability Exchange

zine2 was collated and curated by Rahul Patel with editorial support from Annie-Marie Akussah, Anita Waithira Israel, Hansika Jethnani, Zina Monteiro & Clare Warner
Copy editing by Elizabeth Staddon, UAL
Graphic design and layout by Hansika Jethnani

Links and references from the podcast:

Decolonising the Arts Curriculum Zine can be found here: decolonisingtheartscurriculum.myblog.arts.ac.uk

Shades of Noir: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk

Image Credit: 'Don't forget to Celebrate' by Anita Waithira Israel

Following on from the previous of interrogating spaces that explored concepts of belonging in Higher Education, we move to online learning environments. In the context of Covid-19 and the sharp move to online teaching across the globe, we hear practitioners, academics and students reflect on how we can foster and develop a sense of belonging in digital spaces. We hear about the challenges and affordances of online environments, as well as suggestions as to how we might create a sense of presence and help student feel valued.

For more resources on belonging see UAL's AEM and attainment resources page.

Podcast contributors:

Hansika Jethnani
Hansika Jethnani is a poet and visual artist. She graduated from London College of Communication in 2016 and went onto serve two terms as the Education Officer at UAL Students’ Union between 2016 and 2018 where she worked on a variety of campaigns including decolonising the curriculum, and propelling international student support within the university.

Jess Moody
Jess is a Senior Adviser at Advance HE, exploring diversity and inclusion across the staff and student lifecycles in higher education. She has supported a range of universities with their inclusive learning and teaching, and tackling of structural inequality in access and participation.

Dr Bonnie Stewart
Bonnie Stewart is an educator and social media researcher interested in what digital networks mean for institutions and society. Assistant Professor of Online Pedagogy and Workplace Learning in the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Education, Bonnie was an early MOOC researcher and ethnographer of Twitter, and is currently investigating educators' data literacies.

Dr. Terrell Strayhorn
Terrell Strayhorn is Professor of Urban Education in the Evelyn Reid Syphax School of Education at Virginia Union University, where he also serves as Associate Provost and Director of the SEF Center for the Study of HBCUs. Author of 10 books and 200+ scholarly publications, Strayhorn is an internationally-recognized expert on the social psychological determinants of student success. Influencer in education, business, and contributor to ThriveGlobal, HigherEdJobs, and The Conversation, he can reached on social media @tlstrayhorn

Professor Liz Thomas
Liz Thomas is Professor of Higher Education at Edge Hill University, and an independent higher education researcher and consultant. She has more than twenty years’ experience undertaking and managing research about widening participation, student engagement, belonging, retention and success, and institutional approaches to improving the student experience and student outcomes.

David White
David White is the Head of Digital Learning at the University of the Arts London. He has worked at the intersection of teaching, research and digital for over 20 years. David is best known for the Digital Visitors and Residents idea which provides a framework to understand what motivates online engagement in different forms.

Jennifer Williams-Baffoe
Jennifer is Learning Technologist at Central Saint Martins, where she coordinates the technology enhanced learning for the college. Jennifer has been teaching online for over 6 years with the short courses team in an array of creative disciplines from creative business to Manufacturing. Additionally, Jennifer is the part time Virtual Learning Environment Manager at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is undertaking an MA with a focus on Digital inductions within academia.
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This episode was produced by:
Liz Bunting
Vikki Hill
Gemma Riggs