The fifth Democratic Education Network International Student Conference on “Power and contestations in Global Worlds: Identities, Conflicts, and Developmental Challenge” was successfully held on 13 May 2022 involving more than fifty students from the University of Westminster, Capital City College in London and the international universities in Peru and Vietnam, Latvia.
There was a wide variety of topics discussed and presented by the panels, which encouraged many questions for the panellists at the end of each session. The topics involved international security, power transition, development, geopolitics, contemporary British politics, state violence, identity, environment and development.
This was the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic that DEN hosted the conference in hybrid format. One of the invited speakers, Arturs Danga, from the University of Latvia commented: “This has been a very warm welcome and, indeed, a worthwhile experience of academic learning and youth empowerment, which has far exceeded my initial expectations and come as an overall surprising turn in my life.”
Professor Dibyesh Anand, who heads the School of Social Sciences at Westminster that hosts DEN, said during his opening remarks at the conference: “We are keen to help our students be empowered as co-creators of knowledge. DEN Westminster, led by Dr Farhang Morady, is our flagship programme and we look forward to papers being presented to be published in the coming months.”
The event provided an excellent opportunity for networking and allowing students as well as other attendees to expand their knowledge on a range of topics.
Halima Sani, an International Relations student at the University of Westminster, and the Chair for the Environment, Endogenous Population and Food session, stated: “It was very nice to see different people of different backgrounds in the same place talking about a range of deep topics. It allowed me to see different perspectives and learn more while interacting with new people.”
Various students commented on the usefulness of the event as an experience where they were able to work independently on a range of diverse topics that they were passionate about. This allowed the students to lead an individual journey through their chosen subject and develop their knowledge in a self-sufficient manner.
Komal Nadeem, another member of the Democratic Education Network, said: “As a DEN student, it has given me many opportunities to participate in many bigger things in life such as being part of the DEN book and magazine and the conference today. This conference has helped me learn new things too which I now look at things differently with.”
Dr Farhang Morady, a Principal Lecturer in International Development and the academic lead for DEN Westminster, explained: “Engaging and involving students from our university, the local college, and international partners in the COVID-19 was another milestone in DEN's aim. The collaboration between students, academic staff, and the local and global partners was again a remarkable achievement.”
Lee Kenedy, Lecturer at Capital City College Group, London, said: “DEN's conference was a welcome opportunity to boost our student's confidence; it provided them with a platform to express their ideas on a stage at the University, in front of people they have never met.”
A Capital City College Group student Pauline Michelle Montano added: “I consider myself very fortunate to have this chance. The students at the University were kind and encouraging of my teammates and me. This was stepping in, and stepping out of my comfort zone was beneficial.”
Learn more about the Democratic Education Network.
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