In this episode of Interrogating Spaces we explore the value of belonging in Higher Education. Compiling together interviews with education professionals from across the globe as well as staff and students from UAL, we get a rounded picture of key concepts and issues at play. Through these discussions, we establish the barriers and conditions of belonging and how staff can build greater communities of belonging with their students.

For more resources on the subject of belonging visit UAL's AEM and attainment resources page

Podcast Contributors:

Neil Currant is an Educational Developer and Senior Fellow HEA. Neil supports new lecturers and postgraduate students with their teaching practices and runs the professional recognition programme at UAL. 

Hansika Jethnani graduated from London College of Communication in 2016 and went onto serve two terms as the Education Officer at UAL Students’ Union between 2016 and 2018 where she worked on a variety of campaigns.

Jess Moody is a Senior Adviser at Advance HE, exploring diversity and inclusion across the staff and student lifecycles in higher education. She has supported a range of universities with their inclusive learning and teaching, and tackling of structural inequality in access and participation. 

Dr Gurnam Singh is Associate Professor of Educational Attainment at Coventry University and Honorary Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. He is also Visiting Fellow in Race & Education at UAL and Visiting Professor of Social Work at the University of Chester. 

Dr. Terrell Strayhorn is Professor of Urban Education in the Evelyn Reid Syphax School of Education at Virginia Union University, where he also serves as Associate Provost and Director of the SEF Center for the Study of HBCUs. Author of 10 books and 200+ scholarly publications, Strayhorn is an internationally-recognized expert on the social psychological determinants of student success. 

David White is the Head of Digital Learning at the University of the Arts London. He has worked at the intersection of teaching, research and digital for over 20 years.

Liz Thomas is Professor of Higher Education at Edge Hill University, and an independent higher education researcher and consultant. She has more than twenty years’ experience undertaking and managing research about widening participation, student engagement, belonging, retention and success.

Produced by: Liz Bunting, Vikki Hill, Gemma Riggs
Artwork by Nitya Anand