Equality Week 2024
Event
Belonging: Equality Week 2024
Monday 18 March, 2024 – Friday 22 March, 2024Equality Week 2024 events
This year we celebrate Belonging; being part of and building your community around you. We want to celebrate what makes us part of the Bath Spa University Community, and acknowledge the unique facets of our staff and student body that contribute to this.
We recognise the opportunity to build understanding and strengthen community bonds. Through discussion, talks, panels, and film screenings, we look forward to sharing with you and learning from you.
Welcome from the Chancellor-Elect
Our Chancellor-Elect Sharanjit Leyl kicks off Equality Week and talks all things belonging and being a part of a community.
Watch her video here from 9am Monday 18 March.
Equali'tea'
Monday 18 March, 10am-12pm, LR.G26 and 1pm-3pm, CM.223
Join Bath Spa Equality Network chairs to discuss all things equality, diversity and inclusion. Over a cuppa and a croissant of course!
Make Room! The Art Of LGBTQIA+ Accessibility in the Southwest of England
Monday 18 March, 1pm-2pm, Online
This event will explore ideas of belonging in (in)accessible spaces for LGBTQIA+ disabled people. The 'We Are The People' research team will share their current creative research on how to make queer spaces in the South West accessible.
Chat with the Chaplain
Meet our BSU chaplain Katy Garner, find out more about the support she can provide and discover what Belonging means to her.
Watch her video from 10am on Tuesday 19 March.
A Reflection on Belonging: Neurodiversity at University with Kitty Eve
Tuesday 19 March, 3pm-3.30pm, Online
Please join Kitty Eve (Disability Service Manager) at a talk about neurodiversity (specifically autism) and how fostering and creating environments where everybody feels like they belong can make all the difference. Focussing on strengths, compassion and understanding and looking beyond how individuals may ‘present’, this talk hopes to raise awareness and break down social challenges.
The Old Oak: Film Screening and Q + A
Wednesday 20 March, 3pm, Film Studio
The Old Oak is a special place. Not only is it the last pub standing, but it’s also the only remaining public space where people can meet in a once thriving mining community that has now fallen on hard times after 30 years of decline.
TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) the landlord hangs on to The Old Oak by his fingertips, and his predicament is endangered even more when the pub becomes contested territory after the arrival of Syrian refugees who are placed in the village without any notice.
In an unlikely friendship, TJ meets a curious young Syrian Yara (Ebla Mari) with her camera. Can they find a way for the two communities to understand each other? So unfolds a deeply moving drama about their fragilities and hopes.
Directed by: Ken Loach; Written by Paul Laverty; Starring: Dave Turner; Ebla Mari
Final Year Growth Summit: Challenges in the Workplace
Wednesday 20 March, 5.30pm-6.30pm, Locksbrook Campus (The Street)
As part of this the Final Year Growth Summit hear from a panel of Bath Spa alumni on how they overcame barriers in the workplace, from dealing with feelings of impostor syndrome to navigating work when you have mental or physical health concerns.
This panel aims to amplify voices of those who are under-represented to help you feel prepared, confident and inspired as you head towards graduation.
With representatives who studied a range of courses at Bath Spa University, this is a wonderful opportunity to hear the experiences of those who have done what you're about to do and to ask any questions you may have about life after graduation.
Belonging: A Discussion
Thursday 21 March, 1.30pm-2.30pm, LR.207
Please join Sue Rigby, Lucy Sweetman, Paige Clarkson, Laura Bold, Stuart Read and Joel Staley for a discussion on Belonging.
What makes the BSU community unique? How can we as a larger community work on our inclusivity and consider any biases that may hinder belonging? And how can we as individuals work towards being part of, nurturing and expanding our community?
If you are unable to attend this event in-person, you can view the livestream of this event on our YouTube Channel
Please enter the streamkey – 57gk-vz2v-pcdp-55s3-8k8j
Improving Accessibility for Adults with Learning Disabilities in Museum Settings
Friday 22 March, 11am-12pm, Online
Staff at BSU will explore how to promote belonging within the museum sector.
They will share their current work on improving accessibility of museum spaces with people with learning disabilities, and launch an accessibility toolkit, which was developed in collaboration with their partners, Frome Museum and Open Storytellers.
The Science of Belonging
Friday 22 March, 1.30pm-2.30pm, Online
Maria Petnga-Wallace has been working in equity, diversity and inclusion for 17 years. In 2023 she co-authored the Enablers report, exploring what is needed to progress ethnically underrepresented groups in tech. She is currently the EDI lead at the cyber and investigations consultancy, S-RM and professional doctorate student at Birkbeck College. Brighton based, she spends her spare time talking to sons, cycling along the coast and zumba-ing.
In this session Maria will share the key themes from her research on the experience of belonging for Black women, which include: Identity, Authenticity, Being Othered and Feeling Valued. All of which rest in the context of adaptability, courage and co-operation. We will then explore how we encourage belonging with colleagues and teams within the framework of cultural intelligence.