My name, my story, our community
We’re incredibly excited to be launching the brand new MyName project to help celebrate our diverse community – #MyNameMyStory
What is it?
Have you ever come across a name you’re not sure how to pronounce? Do others mispronounce or misspell your name regularly? Does your name have an intriguing story behind it? Names are a core part of our identity, and it is important that we listen and make the effort to get them right. The MyName project is here to help showcase and celebrate the diverse community that makes up the students and staff of the University of Reading, through a series of short, recorded videos.
The MyName projects led by Dr Qi Wu and James Sweeney (a student at the University of Reading, currently completing his placement year as a Communications Assistant) in the Student Success & Engagement team, aims to raise cultural awareness seeks to encourage those deep and meaningful conversations that can help establish and build real connections between students and staff at Reading. Our names shape our story, and we want to hear yours.
Why is it important?
A name is so much more than simply a word used to address someone. Our names are a part of our story, they can reflect our culture, our family, our beliefs and our goals, and they should be something we carry with pride, just like Graci Kim Cribbens explains in her TED Talk: The Hidden Power behind Our Names. Our names possess a power, a meaning, a strength and at the heart of it, our identity.
Over the next few weeks we will be releasing short videos made by our staff and students as well as helpful tips on pronunciation, and advice on how to pronounce different names, the background and meaning behind the name, the strength and meaning that you name can carry through your life and more.
Watch out for the videos on all of our different channels, including:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/uor_studentlife/ or @uor_studentlife
Student Life Blog – http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/student-life/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/UniRdg_Student or @UniRdg_Student
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnt35i2rCExOaad_imIDXQ
How can you get involved?
If you would like to find out more about The MyName project, or would like to share your name and story, all you need to do is record a short video of yourself talking about your name, how to pronounce it and what it means. If you would like to go into the background of your name and share what it means to you, we’d love to hear that too.
If you would like to be a part of the project but would not like to make a video, that is completely fine. We are looking to cover a vast range of different media types across the MyName project, including:
- Audio recordings
- Blogs & written content
- Random facts about your name
- Short, recorded videos
If you have any other creative ideas that we have not thought of that you would like to do, please feel free to get in touch and we’ll happily discuss them!
For more information on the MyName project, recordings, and for any details about project submissions, simply drop us an email at studentcomms@reading.ac.uk
My name, my story, our community.
Follow the MyName project using the #MyNameMyStory on Twitter!