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Welcome to the UEA University of Sanctuary website.

UEA is a University of Sanctuary, an accreditation given to universities that show an ongoing commitment to creating a welcoming culture of inclusivity and awareness.​

UEA is proud to welcome people seeking sanctuary (asylum seekers and refugees) into their community, recognising the wealth of experience and knowledge they bring.

The Universities of Sanctuary initiative currently engages with sanctuary seekers, and the wider university and local community in multiple activities. These include learning and teaching, student support, delivery of events such as UEA Refugee week, research projects, partnerships with community organisations and through the UEA scholarship programme.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Overcoming Divisions in Students’ Learning Experiences: Insights from the Work on a New UEA Teaching & Learning Toolkit
Tuesday 21st June, 1.30-2.30pm
Online event, via Blackboard
https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/feb2cea21a1b486ca1880be42b5f560f​

Refugee Week 2022 deals with the theme of “healing”, and the relevance of “community, mutual care, … the human ability to start again … [and the] overcoming [of] political divisions”. These values tally with the objectives of Higher Education initiatives that seek to overcome divisions in students’ learning experiences based on issues of gender, ethnic, national or socio-economic identity.
In this public lecture, we will reflect on the different forms that such Higher Education initiatives can take, ranging from efforts to decolonize reading lists, through the creation of open discussion forums, to critical assessment exercises which analyse the relevance of staff and student positionality. Drawing on research for a new Teaching & Learning Toolkit at the University of East Anglia, we highlight two key challenges when trying to overcome divisions in students’ learning experiences: 1) the multiple meanings that terms such as “decolonization”, “inclusivity” and “equality” can take; and 2) limited exchange about how different disciplines engage with these terms in their teaching and learning structures. We invite audience members to share their views on what a Teaching & Learning Toolkit could and should achieve.
The event is open to all, with no pre-booking required.

Let’s Just Talk about Teaching: Sources of Inequality and Opportunities for Healing
Thursday 23rd June 2022, 12-1.30pm
Online event, via Blackboard
https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/7aedc3f574364fcd9a91cad75007fc57​

An Online Conversation Event between UEA Students and Staff
as part of Refugee Week 2022

In this informal conversation between UEA students and staff, we will talk about different sources of inequality and opportunities for healing in Higher Education classroom settings. Key themes to be explored include:
what we mean with “inclusive”, “decolonised”, “anti-racist”, “culturally sensitive” and/or “diverse” learning resources, and how the type of learning resource may affect students’ learning;
how structural patterns of (gender, ethnic, national or socio-economic) inequalities may influence classroom dynamics; and
why methods of feedback and assessment matter in the exercise and experience of power in Higher Education.
As an informal conversation, there will be no pre-defined script for any of the aforementioned themes. Instead, the event is envisioned as an open exchange of ideas and perspectives between UEA students and staff. The conversation will be facilitated by a team of UEA researchers, who are currently working on a new UEA Teaching and Learning Toolkit. In line with the themes of the informal conversation, the Toolkit seeks to enhance our understanding of power dynamics in teaching and learning structures at UEA, and to reduce disparities in these dynamics that may be based on issues of gender, ethnic, national or socio-economic identity. The event is open to all, with no pre-booking required.



UEA lake

The University of Sanctuary Steering Group

UEA Sanctuary Students

Wider Movement