How can Lecturers ensure that they create an inclusive environment where all students can thrive and enjoy an optimal sense of belonging? Why are some students less inclined to participate in in-class discussions than others? Are we doing enough to diversify the curriculum? Are we adopting a truly intersectional approach when we implement new teaching and assessment methods? Why is attendance not what it used to be?

UCL’s Arts & Humanities Faculty boasts a myriad of successful and effective EDI initiatives, yet these questions kept popping into my mind following meetings with personal tutees and candid conversations with students. Indeed, it was as part of the “Reverse Mentoring in SELCS” programme that my own student mentor first mentioned the issue of socio-economic equity, and our sessions brought to the forefront something that should be self-evident but that many of us hadn’t really paid attention to: that not all students arrive in UCL with the same financial, social and cultural capital. Whilst this is especially true for First-Year students, these differences are also pervasive in every degree year. Students who have attended private schools with lower student-to-teacher ratios, who have benefitted from private tutoring, who are well-travelled and who regularly attend cultural events are more likely to participate in class and to show higher levels of confidence. This is particularly pertinent in the Arts and Humanities, where in-class discussions often prompt students to share their personal experiences and preferences with regard to travels, performances or exhibitions.

A collage of our socio-economic equity interviews.I discussed this with my colleague Macarena Jiménez Naranjo, who had also taken part in the same reverse mentoring programme and who incidentally had received similar comments from her own student mentor. In fact, it became clear that so many of our students had discreetly hinted at the issue of socio-economic inequalities, and how these shaped their learning and campus experience. Furthermore, as an Access UCL personal tutor who has worked closely with this cohort for the past two years, students have often confided in me how in particular a lack of cultural capital exacerbates their impostor syndrome and limits their ability to perform inside and outside the classroom.

Macarena and I felt it was time to discuss the socio-economic dimension openly. We already worked together to produce an A&H EDI Dialogues podcast, an experience we really enjoyed. We therefore decided to host and record a series of three podcasts under the umbrella topic of socio-economic equity and education. Each podcast would involve the two of us as presenters and two students who would discuss a particular aspect of this overarching topic. We knew we wanted to create a safe environment where students could safely hone their speaking and analytical skills, boost their critical thinking and gain confidence. Also, in line with the decolonising the curriculum format, students should be responsible for designing the podcasts.

With the support of the Centre for Humanities Education, we invited six Arts and Humanities students to cover three main topics. Anna Duongova and Isaac Timberlake focused on intersectionality and reverse snobbery, highlighting how appearances can deceive. James Cooper and Victoria Wysocka discussed class issues on campus, including commuting and social opportunities. Natalie Calderon and Tatum Kemsley’s conversation centred around the Year Abroad, which, although no doubt exciting and enriching, can also pose a set of socio-economic issues.

The very stimulating conversations allowed students to provide insights and convey suggestions on how to make our lectures more inclusive in terms of socio-economic factors. It was also heartwarming to see how it built a greater understanding between all of us – people from different generations, origins and backgrounds. Above all, the students’ candid revelations and pertinent recommendations are already shaping our strategy – as Lecturers, as researchers and as personal tutees. We invite you to listen to the full series, which indeed challenges assumptions and calls for deeper thinking about the delivery of courses and institutional practices by bringing socio-economic issues on campus to the forefront. In the meantime, here are our top tips:

• Don’t judge a book by its cover. Reverse snobbery is real, and it is damaging. Living off campus and/or having to miss out on expensive social activities can also exacerbate students’ feelings of loneliness – encourage your students to attend free or low-cost activities.
• Commuting is expensive! It can also be exhausting. It can affect students’ attendance, performance, and in-class participation. The same applies to part-time jobs. Whenever possible, try to help make their workload more manageable.
• If your students have a Year Abroad, acknowledge that whilst this really is an exciting opportunity for all of them, the logistics can be challenging for students with caring responsibilities or those from lower economic backgrounds without financial support.

Interested in continuing the conversation or looking to collaborate with us on similar initiatives? Please contact us via m.oaknin@ucl.ac.uk and m.naranjo@ucl.ac.uk.

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The UCL Centre for Humanities Education is funded by generous support from The Lord Randolph Quirk Endowment Fund at UCL. EDI Dialogues were made possible through the support of The Lord Randolph Quirk Endowment Fund.

Macarena Jiménez Naranjo, PhD, is a Lecturer (Teaching) in Spanish Language and Hispanic Literature at University College London. Her interests include Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE), language varieties, and curriculum decolonisation. She currently coordinates the Special Interest Group on Decolonising Spanish Language Teaching ELEUK (SIG-Des-ELEUK).

Mazal Oaknín is Associate Professor (Teaching) in Spanish Language and Literature and Gender Studies and Spanish Language Coordinator. Her publications include the monograph Feminism, Writing and the Media in Spain (Peter Lang, 2019), and the co-edited volumes Literatura política y política literaria en España: Del Desastre del 98 a Felipe VI (Peter Lang, 2015), and Inclusion, Diversity and Innovation in Translation Education (UCL Press, 2024). Her present research interests centre around EDI in Spanish language teaching and translation education.  Mazal is Co-Director of the e-Expert Seminar Series in Translation and Modern Language Teaching and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Translation Studies. Since 2022 Mazal has also launched a number of EDI projects, including the “Tackling the BAME-BIPOC Awarding Gap in SELCS”, “Decolonising Gender Studies Through Reverse Mentoring”, “Reverse Mentoring in SELCS”, and “Mi Salud Mental: Using Curriculum-Infusion to Promote Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing”. Mazal is also a Co-Chair of UCL’s Gender Equality Steering Group.

 

Macarena Jiménez Naranjo promised her student, Nadia Hussain, and the rest of Nadia’s classmates that they would receive full marks for one part of their assessments — simply for turning up to class. Listen to find out how this bold decision lifted the pressure of grades, fostered student-led scholarly exploration, and drew students back into the classroom after the fracturing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants: Mazal Oaknín, Macarena Jiménez Naranjo, and Nadia Hussain (all from UCL’s Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies)

by Dr Simon Rowberry (UCL Centre for Publishing)

Edited 16 May 2024 to add: Inksights is now live! Check out the podcast here. 

In an era where digital landscapes evolve at lightning speed, equipping students with future-proof skills is more crucial than ever. With generative AI and multimedia platforms redefining professional boundaries, how can educational institutions stay ahead?

The answer: overhauling our curriculum for agility by embedding digital literacy throughout, and offering opportunities for students to work on real-world, career-enhancing projects.

A team of seven MA Publishing students, led by Amy, Lily and Mira, have been doing just this by working on Inksights, a podcast aimed at combining academic and industry perspectives on current publishing topics.

Each episode will blend interviews, reviews, debates, and news stories. Each member of team focuses on a different part of the podcast’s creation, production and marketing.

Finding your voice and preferred ways of collaborating

During the Inksights podcast’s pilot recording, the team tackled the art of collaboration head-on. The hosts encountered a challenge—avoiding interruptions—but ingeniously resolved it by adopting a lip balm stick as their “talking stick.” This simple yet effective strategy ensured clear, orderly discussions.

The Inksights team also skilfully navigated the challenge of sounding distinct and dynamic, steering clear of a “robotic” tone. The pilot showcases this success, achieved through planning and ensuring each host’s voice was unique and engaging. You can listen to it below (13:09 minutes long):

 

Methods of collaboration and working with guests were also challenges. While exploring various platforms, students discovered that each had its pros and cons. Zoom emerged as a standout for virtual sessions: the team praised it “for virtual interview/podcast recordings. The recording was quickly processed and available to access on the cloud by the production team.”

Working collaboratively on a podcast requires digital collaboration tools, which have proliferated over the last five years. The Inksights team are still finding the collaborative workflow that is most suitable for their needs. They are spending time to get this right early to avoid having to pivot to another setup later.

Our next steps include continuing to develop networks with similar groups of students and academics working on generative AI/podcasting across the University and the sector to gain further valuable insights and share good practice.

What Generative AI (currently) can and cannot do

Eden leads the generative AI project, focusing on images, videos, and animations. These are under-developed areas within publishing and require tools beyond Open AI’s Chat-GPT.

Through this scoping work, Eden notes: “I have become much more knowledgeable with this cutting-edge technology than industry professionals, putting me in a better position for job prospects.”

The projects highlight the constraints of today’s Generative AI tools in publishing. For example, it is possible to ask Chat-GPT to generate a book cover image, but this image appears in a square frame that requires further editing.

The file format of the output frequently clashes with current publishing workflows. This shifts human effort towards tedious tasks like cropping and format conversion, detracting from the creative focus on aesthetics and composition.

Likewise, most Generative AI services focus on a single media output, making cross-platform integrating challenging.

The Inksight podcast team’s experience with Zoom illustrates the benefits of human intervention as it “allows us to have video material to use for promotional purposes (Reels, YouTube, UCL publishing Instagram).”

This underscores the ongoing need to balance automation with human creativity, a vital skill for enhancing our students’ future employability.

The sustainability of extra-curricular media projects

The one-year format of our MA programme presents a significant hurdle for extracurricular activities as demonstrated by previous projects including Uncovering Publishing and Shelf Healing. Just as students hone their skills, they are ready to graduate, often having secured industry positions.

We do not yet have a practical solution to this challenge, but as the two projects continue to develop, we will look for ways to ensure greater continuity between cohorts and ensure teaching colleagues are equipped with the relevant skills to assist new groups of students.

The Inksights team are currently editing the first full episode of the podcast with the aim to release it by the end of Term 2.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Amy, Eden, Lily and Mira for providing their thoughts on their progress to date. Simon used GPT-4 to improve the readability and conciseness of the first draft.

Created by Simona Aimar (UCL Vice Dean EDI for Arts & Humanities) and Jesper Hansen (UCL Arena Center), who co-lead the EDI stream in the UCL Centre for Humanities Education, the EDI Dialogues @ UCL focus on all things EDI, and take shape in conversation with UCL Arts & Humanities staff members, students, as well as external interlocutors.

Listen to Episode 1 on Affirmative Action in the US (in conversation with Amin Afrouzi, Yale Law). A dialogue with Amin Ebrahimi Afrouzi on when the absence of affirmative action is unconstitutional in the US. Amin puts forward a proposal about jurisprudence and EDI, with a specific focus to the US context.

Participants: Amin Ebrahimi Afrouzi (Yale Law), Artem Massey (UCL Philosophy), Kirstine La Cour (UCL Philosophy), Simona Aimar (UCL Vice Dean EDI for Arts & Humanities), and Jesper Hansen (UCL Arena Center)