Equality and Diversity Update

Forthcoming Community Events

We will be hosting two major community events at the University, and are looking for staff and students to get involved:

Wolverhampton LGBT Pride’s Rainbow Funday on Saturday 23^rd September in Wulfruna Courtyard, 2pm to 10pm

We will be hosting the launch event of Wolverhampton LGBT Pride. We are looking for staff and students to support the event on the day. This would involve playing a variety of roles such as helping to dress the venue before the event, signposting attendees around campus, stewarding activities, and providing information to attendees about the University. If you are interested in getting involved, please email equality@wlv.ac.uk. 

Wolverhampton Black History Month Launch Event on Friday 29^th September in Arena Theatre, 7pm to 12pm

We will be hosting the launch event of Wolverhampton Black History Month. We are looking for staff and students to support the event on the day. This would involve playing a variety of roles such as helping to dress the venue before the event, signposting attendees around campus, stewarding activities, and providing information to attendees about the University. We are also looking for any staff and students who can provide performances or talks that are relevant to African-Caribbean cultures or histories.

In addition, even if you do not wish to work or volunteer for either event, we would urge you to save the date, and attend in a personal capacity. 

University Events 2017/18

Save the Dates

The Equality and Diversity Unit, in conjunction with the Staff Networks and the Athena Swan Project Team, will be hosting the following one-day conferences:

• Black History Month Conference on 19^th October 2017
• Disability History Month Conference on 15^th November 2017
• LGBT History Month Conference on 6^th February 2018
• International Women’s Month Conference on 8^th March 2018
• Asian Heritage Month Conference on 2^nd May 2018

These conferences will all run from 10am to 4pm, and contain a mixture of lectures, seminars, interactive workshops and relevant updates from University Senior Management. They are open to students, staff, colleagues in other institutions, and the general public.  More details will follow shortly but please save the dates of any events you’re interested in attending. 

Get Involved

We want staff and students to be at the heart of these events. You don’t need to be an academic or manager to get involved – we welcome contributions from all members of our university community.  Please consider the following ways to get involved:

Lead a Seminar 

We want these conferences to reflect the wider work of the University. We would therefore encourage staff and students to volunteer to deliver a thirty-minute seminar that is relevant to one of the conferences’ themes. This can be about research that you’re doing as a student or academic, an initiative that you’re working on within the University or something about your personal experiences.

Be a Panellist

All conferences will include staff and student panels where people talk about their experiences at the University of Wolverhampton, and take questions from participants.

Recommend an External Speaker, Seminar Leader or Topic

All these conferences will be a mixture of external and internal presenters. If you know of anybody who you think would be a great speaker or seminar leader then please let us know. Likewise if there’s a topic you’re particularly interested in being covered, please let us know, even if you don’t know who could talk to it.

Exhibitions

In addition to these events we are looking to host art and/or photography exhibitions to be displayed across the University throughout the following periods:

• Black History Month (October)
• Disability History Month (November-December)
• LGBT History Month (February)
• International Women’s Month (March)
• Asian Heritage Month (May)

As with the recent “Survivors” exhibition for Asian Heritage Month, we would be looking to either current students or recent alumni to curate these exhibitions. We would be willing to reimburse the curator up to £250 for the costs involved in preparing the exhibition.

A Different Read Book Club

In the next academic year we are launching a book club that seeks to broaden the horizons of staff and students by exposing them through texts from alternative perspectives. It will meet on the last Wednesday of every month during term-time, with the launch event on Wednesday 27^th 2017 at 2pm. 

Have An Idea

If you have a suggestion for an event or activity we should do during the next academic year please get in touch with us by emailing equality@wlv.ac.uk

Will Cooling, EDU Special Projects and Policy Manager,

Kunal Swani & Suneeta Patel, Co-Chairs of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority Staff Network

Ruth Fairclough, Chair of Disabled Staff Network

Sammy Li, Char of LGBT Staff Network