The second annual World in Westminster Festival took place between 6-10 March 2023 across the University of Westminster, showcasing the University’s engagement with diversity, inclusion and internationalisation.
The Festival is a celebratory festival with a global focus, putting a host of activities and events on offer to Westminster students and colleagues.
Twelve events took place across all campuses of the University, ensuring that all students and colleagues could easily attend an event. Each day of the festival focussed on a different strand of the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy.
On Monday 6 March, three events took place at the University’s Regent Campus, exploring the theme of culture. These included a University of Westminster Students’ Union (UWSU) Cultural Fair, with the University’s LGBTQ+, French, and Art societies hosting quizzes and showcasing their work. After this, a Latin American Culture expo was presented by three Westminster students. It included a photo exhibition and explored the rich history of Latin America.
Monday’s events concluded with a film screening of Granada Nights in Regent Street Cinema, which included a question-and-answer session with the film’s director Abid Khan, hosted by the Professor Dibyesh Anand, Head of the University’s School of Social Sciences and Co-Chair of the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee and the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network Committee. The film is a coming-of-age drama about a young British tourist dealing with a broken heart in the Spanish city of Granada.
On Tuesday 7 March, two events took place on Marylebone Campus focusing on the theme of communication. These included a Global Opportunities Fair and special panel discussion called the Myth of Meritocracy for Women of Colour, hosted by the Women of Westminster (WOW) Network. The panel, which included Human Resource Management MA students Tash Maxwell and Dawn McWhinney and the Fawcett Society’s Zaimal Azad, explored the Society’s research, which has found women from ethnic minority backgrounds are being stopped from reaching their true potential at every stage of their career journeys. The panel discussed the impact and implications of this research.
On Wednesday 8 March, Harrow Campus hosted a Global Opportunities Fair and a showcase of international music, with the events celebrating the theme of expression. The live music night consisted of four international students, who performed their native languages, including Hindi and French. The night reflected Westminster’s diverse student population.
Swarzy Macaly, Raymond Tanner and Janelle Mitchell (L-R) at the Black History Year - Working Harder event
Granada Nights film screening at Regent Street Cinema
Speakers at the Myth of Meritocracy for Women of Colour event
Crowd member during the showcase of International music event
On Thursday 9 March, three events examining the theme of vision took place at Cavendish Campus. The University’s Black History Year steering group ran a writing workshop for black female researchers. Heidi Boahen, EDI Officer at the University, organised a talk called Thinking Differently: An Insight into Neurodiversity which was delivered by Jannett Morgan, who has extensively explored the intersectionality between neurodiversity and race.
Later in the day, Amina Mahmood and Dr Syada Dastagir, who are Digital Learning Specialists at the University, joined Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy and Co-Chair of the University’s Q+ Network, to discuss minority representation in arts and academia at an event called Fitting In, Making a Difference. Professor Catterall explored the significance of statues, spaces and portraits around the University and London as a whole. Dr Dastagir explored a range of examples from popular culture to highlight exactly why true representation matters.
On Friday 10 March, two events explored the theme of belonging at the University’s Regent Campus. The University’s Hub on Migration, Exile, Languages and Spaces (HOMELandS) Centre welcomed Syrian refugees, a community sponsorship group and a charity supporting refugees to an event where speakers shared their lessons, stories and experiences. It was organised by Dr Lilian Miles, Reader in the University’s School of Organisations, Economy and Society, and Sobia Razzaq, Senior Lecturer in the same School and Co-Chair of the WOW network.
Three inspiring young people hosted a Black History Year event titled Working Harder: The Full Story, which explored how young people can turn their side hustles into their full-time careers. Janelle Mitchell, Swarzy Macaly and Raymond Tannor discussed their career journeys to date, philosophies towards work, what they have learnt during their careers, how they have managed to continually pursue their goals and how they have learnt to deal with adversity.
Speaking about the Festival, Professor Alexandra Hughes, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement and Employability, said: “The World in Westminster Festival delivered a truly diverse and varied programme of events for the University’s colleagues and students, celebrating the diversity of our wonderful community. I would like to thank Zahrah Surooprajally, the University’s Events Manager and EDI Programme Co-ordinator, for bringing the vast programme of events in the Festival together, with her usual energy, enthusiasm and organisation.”
Find out about upcoming equality, diversity and inclusion events at the University.
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