On Thursday 24 March, Leeds Trinity University will hold its third annual Race, Equity and Social Justice conference, focusing on the theme of Decoloniality of the Academy. We are excited to be joined by a range of eminent speakers who will deliver a series of keynote speeches and workshops, including Professor Heidi Safia Mirza, Professor Shirley Anne Tate, Professor Mark Mon-Williams and Dr Arun Verma.

Find out more below and register for the conference on Eventbrite. We look forward to seeing you there!

Professor Heidi Safia Mirza – Safe Spaces for Courageous Conversations: Decolonising Race, Faith, and Identity in a Post-Covid Academy

Heidi Safia Mirza is Emeritus Professor of Equality Studies in Education at UCL Institute of Education and Visiting Professor of Race, Faith and Culture at Goldsmith’s College, and Social Policy at London School of Economics. She is a daughter of the Caribbean Windrush Generation and is internationally known for her pioneering intersectional academic research on race, gender and identity and championing the rights of Black, Muslim, and Asian women through educational reform. She is author of several best-selling books including Black British Feminism and Young Female and Black, which was voted in the top 40 most influential educational studies in Britain. Professor Mirza is a leading voice in the global debate on decolonisation and co-edited the flagship book, ‘Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, whiteness and decolonising the academy’.

In her keynote, ‘Safe Spaces for Courageous Conversations: Decolonising Race, Faith, and Identity in a Post-Covid Academy’, Professor Mirza will explore how professional educators can engage in self-reflexive antiracist courageous conversations which enables them to begin the process of ‘decolonising’ established discourses of race, identity, and difference in the classroom.

Professor Shirley Anne Tate – If you were a white man: Bodies of value in academic life

Professor Shirley Anne Tate is Professor and Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Feminism and Intersectionality in the Sociology Department, University of Alberta, Canada. Her area of research is Black diaspora studies broadly and her research interests are institutional racism, the body, affect, beauty, hybridity, 'race' performativity and Caribbean decolonial studies while paying attention to the intersections of 'race' and gender. Her current research project is on antiracism and decolonization in universities. She is Honorary Professor, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, and affiliated to CriSHET, and Visiting Professor in CEREN, University of Helsinki and CRED, Leeds Beckett University.

Professor Mark Mon-Williams – How a research programme can create Equity and drive forward Social Justice

Professor Mark Mon-Williams holds a Chair in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Leeds, is Professor of Psychology at the Bradford Institute of Health Research, and Professor of Vision Science at The Norwegian Centre for Vision. He is also a Turing Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute (the UK’s National data analytics and AI Centre). He is a Founder Member of the Priestley Academy Trust (a multiple academy trust that includes the first school known to provide free meals to children and measure the impact on children’s health) and sits on the Bradford Opportunity Area partnership board. He has several advisory roles including being a Digital Futures Commissioner, a member of the cross-Whitehall data Improvement Across Government committee, and leading a National project on the use of data to identify and support children with vulnerabilities.

Dr Arun Verma – Staff experience workshop

Dr Arun Verma is a leader in integrating intersectionality in design, development and action throughout the higher education, third, private and public sectors. He is the Head of the Race Equality Charter (Advance HE), Academic Tutor (University of Dundee) and Fellow of the RSA. He completed his doctorate exploring intersectionality in healthcare students’ learning, retention and success. Dr Verma has led the integration and embedding of intersectionality and anti-racist practice in government commissioning, national and global programmes development and education through developing and implementing intersectional and inclusive policy and praxis interventions. He is a Trustee for Getting on Board working to diversify boards and governance, and is editing the ‘Anti-racism in higher education: An action guide for change’ due out in June 2022.

In his workshop ‘Disrupting the staff experience: re-thinking intersectionality, retention and success’, Dr Verma will lead the group to explore the ways in which journeys, places and spaces can help institutions identify areas for structural, policy and practice action to critically improve staff engagement, retention and success. The workshop will also include formulating your own reflective questions and actions to support a better staff experience for all.

Professor Heidi Safia Mirza, Professor Shirley Anne Tate, Professor Mark Mon-Williams and Dr Arun Verma will join a range of expert speakers at Leeds Trinity University’s third annual Race, Equity and Social Justice conference on Thursday 24 March, 9.00am – 4.15pm. View the full agenda and register via Eventbrite.