Monthly Archives: October 2020

‘Belonging’ – Shepherd Mutswiri in conversation with Beth Rebisz

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Next in our series on ‘Belonging’, we hear from Shepherd Mutswiri, a PGR student in our network. Shepherd joined the University of Reading’s history department in January 2020, having completed an MSc in International Development and Development Economics at SOAS, London. His PhD research focuses on Zimbabwe’s decolonisation in which he challenges the master narrative. While Zimbabwean public discourse, as well as much of the scholarly debate, has been to celebrate the liberation war, Shepherd intends to complicate this understanding. Shepherd is exploring the relationship between nationalism and religion in the decolonisation process, and the important role women played in the years leading up to independence in 1980.

‘People don’t want to be tolerated, they want to be accepted’.

Shepherd was generous enough to spend time talking to Beth Rebisz on the theme of ‘Belonging’. In his research on the decolonisation process in Zimbabwe, belonging plays an important role in relation to nationalism. How do you bring people from different backgrounds together to form a nation? Shepherd also spoke of his own experience navigating UK academia, emphasising the impact citizenship can have on a sense of belonging. Where is home for a transient researcher?

Click on the picture below to view the full video

Shepherd Mutswiri in conversation with Beth Rebisz

 

Black History Month Events 2020

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DATE TIME EVENT
Monday 12 October 12.00-13.00 BAME Students in English Literature: A Network

Dr Nicola Abram, Department of English Literature

Yinka Olaniyan, UoR 2020 Graduate
Wednesday 14 October 12:00 – 13:00 Decolonising the Curriculum

Dr Sarah Cardey, International Development

Dr Matthew Windsor, School of Law
13.00-15.00 Blacklisted? Are Black people excluded from institutions in the UK?

Professor Leslie Thomas QC, Garden Court of Chambers,

Professor Kehinde Andrews, Birmingham City University

Dr Foluke Adebisi, University of Bristol

Use this link to join the event
Friday 16 October 10.00-11.15 Race and trans-Atlantic experiences of the ivory tower-1

Professor Nduka Otiono, Institute of African Studies at Carleton University

Use this link to join the event
Tuesday 20 October 12.00-13.30 Race and trans-Atlantic experiences of the ivory tower-2

Professor Katherine Harloe, University of Reading

Professor Olufunmilayo Arewa, Beasley School of Law, Temple University

Use this link to join the event
16:00 – 17:00

 

 RUSU: Black History Month

Rachel Wates, RUSU Diversity Officer 2020/21

Ruth Adeniyi, RUSU BAME Officer 2020/21
Wednesday 21 October 14.00-16.00 Race at the School of Law

Dr Matthew Windsor, Lecturer

Alex Ojo, BAME rep for Law Society

Suralini Fernando, Widening Participation Officer

Dr Ana Cannilla, Lecturer, Chair Student Experience Committee

Use this link to join the event
15:00 – 16:00

 

 

 Virtual Roundtable: BAME Students in the UoR History Department

Dr Natalie Thomlinson, Department of History

Students, Department of History

 
Monday 26 October 19:30 – 21:00 Decolonising Gospel Music

Professor Robert Beckford, The Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham

University of Reading Chaplaincy’s Café Théologique

 

Facebook Event Link (Zoom Details in the Description Box)
Tuesday 27 October 12.00-13.30 BAME Allies launch and discussion: anti-racism and allyship

 

Dr Natalie Thomlinson, Department of History

Dr Heike Schmidt, Department of History

Use this link to join the event
TBC TBC In conversation with Joanna Abeyie, MBE

 
Wednesday 28 October 14:30 – 16:00 If Not Now, Then When?

Rob Neil OBE

UoR Colleagues representing students, postdoc/early career researchers, academic and professional services staff.

‘Belonging’ with Alice Mpofu-Coles

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On the 1st October 2020, The African and Gender History Research Seminar hosted Alice Mpofu-Coles a PGR student in our network. Alice’s paper, titled ‘Study Hard, Work Hard and Get Married’ – A Generational Gap in the Aspirations for Young Zimbabweans in the UK, was one of our best attended seminars of the year and was a testament to the important conversation she was sparking. During her paper, Alice explored the challenges young Zimbabweans face navigating education, employment, and relationships as part of a diasporic community in the UK. Alice reflected on her own positionality having arrived to the UK as a refugee. Alice wears many hats, as she explained in her seminar, she is a researcher, she is an activist, and she is a mother. At the core of her paper and at the core of the discussion which took place after was the question of belonging and how this impacts identity. This felt like a conversation that needed to go further.

Let’s spill the tea, or in Alice’s words, we need to wake up and smell the coffee.

Alice Mpofu-Coles was generous enough to spend time talking to Beth Rebisz on the theme of ‘Belonging’. Her research centres the experiences and narratives of young Zimbabweans in the UK. She explores the pressures and expectations young Zimbabweans must navigate as part of the ‘1.5 generation’. What does it mean to find a sense of belonging as part of a diasporic community? How does racism impact this? Alice spoke of her own experiences of navigating UK academia as a Black scholar. What does it mean to belong in a system where Black people face exclusion?

Click on the picture below to view the full video.

‘Belonging’ – Alice Mpofu-Coles in Conversation with Beth Rebisz