Education Enhancement Grant Winners (2023/2024)

The following grants were awarded in 2023 by the UCL Centre for Humanities Education to build excellence in education across the Faculty through the sharing of practices and knowledge, to encourage as wide engagement as possible from across the faculty and across staff categories, and to facilitate learning from and engagements with external practitioners, organisations, and stakeholders.

We warmly congratulate the awardees! Keep an eye on our blog for more information about their work — you can subscribe for updates using the box on the right of this page.

Creative Teaching in the Humanities Network
Selena Daly, SELCS

The establishment of a ‘Creative Teaching in the Humanities Network’ brings together colleagues from across humanities disciplines at UCL who are interested in learning about and implementing creative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment in their modules.

There were three in-person events organised under the umbrella of this network during Term 1 of 2023/24.

Read blog posts about two of the workshops organised: one on object-based learning and another on using the ‘unessay’ in the humanities!

Object-based learning and the humanities
Thursday, 19 October 2023, 2pm-4pm, Haldane Room, Main Building

Join us for a mix of short talks and interactive demonstrations about the use of object-based learning (OBL) in the humanities classroom. OBL promotes the hands-on use of objects, such as artefacts, artworks or archival materials, in the classroom to achieve a deeper and more experiential engagement with the topic of study. Speakers include: Dr Thomas Kador (UCL Arts & Sciences) with Dr Andrea Fredericksen (UCL Art Museum); Dr Anna Maguire (History) with Joanna Bains (UCL Special Collections); Dr Kirsty Dootson Sinclair (SELCS) and Dr Lucia Rinaldi (SELCS). Click here to register for this workshop.

Creative Assessments in the Humanities
Wednesday, 15 November 2023, 2pm-4pm, Foster Court 114

In this session, speakers will present their work on assessment types that move away from traditional forms such as essays and presentations to assignments that require more creative and imaginative responses, for example through academically-informed musical compositions or fine art. Speakers include: Dr Akil Awan (Dept. of History, Royal Holloway, University of London) and Dr Eleanor Chiari (SELCS). Click here to register for the workshop.

Creative Teaching in the Humanities Laboratory
Thursday, 7 December 2023, 12pm-2pm, Haldane Room, Main Building

This session invites colleagues to workshop how they could incorporate the approaches explored in the previous sessions into their own teaching practice. Please bring along details of a particular module you’d like to work on or work-in-progress on a new classroom activity or assessment. Brainstorm ideas, share best practice and receive feedback. This session will be led by Dr Selena Daly (SELCS). Please feel free to bring your own lunch! Click here to register for the workshop.

Decolonising Language studies in Higher Education
Jelena Ćalić and Eszter Tarsoly, SSEES

The main aim of our current undertaking is to organise a series of symposia (of which the first one took place on 25 May 2023) which explore the potential of ethnographic methods, creative enquiry, and community-based learning in decolonising language studies in higher education and in achieving greater inclusion of minoritised groups, their ways of speaking, and “voice” in teaching and learning at university.

This grant offered additional funding for the second symposium to allow participants from various locations across and beyond London to travel to UCL and stay locally. This follow-up broadened the scope of the discussion we held in May to cross-departmental level within UCL, and helped us gain experience from those working beyond UCL on the potential of ethnographic and creative methods in enhancing inclusivity.

This event took place on 25 October 2023. You can watch a recording of this event here.

Read summaries of key talks given by Alison Phipps, Victoria Odeniyi and Li Wei.

Staff-Student Partnership for EDI Curriculum Enhancement
Mairéad McAuley, Greek and Latin 

This grant supported a Staff-Student Partnership as part of our Departmental plan to expand our programme curricula from an EDI perspective. Teaching ancient cultures involves confronting some historical realities deeply repellent today, e.g. slavery, violence and ethnic prejudice. Moreover, Classics has a history of ideological links with European colonialism, racism and imperialism. People of colour and those with disabilities remain under-represented within the field. UCL Dept of Greek and Latin recognised the need for practical EDI strategies within existing module curricula and specific learning contexts such as language classes, and that this should involve working closely with students, eliciting their contributions.

Staff-student partnerships have been shown to be effective in developing more equitable and inclusive learning. The grant supported key staff-student initiatives to address EDI concerns in our curricula and our learning community, including a decolonization pedagogy workshop, a ‘Beyond the Mediterranean’ Student Speaker series, and EDI video conversations between students.

Decolonisation Pedagogy Workshop
Wednesday, 6 December 2023, 1-2 pm, Gordon House 

There has been much general discussion and debate around decolonization in the university, but we also need practical suggestions for how to implement this in an everyday sense in our teaching and study of the ancient world. What are the subject-specific challenges we face in our programmes at UCL Greek & Latin? What strategies can we use to open our modules to different perspectives and to generate a sense of intellectual and social inclusivity within teaching and learning contexts?

This is a follow-up workshop to our event last year, which both staff and students found very useful and which led to a number of practical outcomes on our Moodle pages and in our module design and teaching. The purpose of this workshop will be to take stock of where we are, to look at how we can build or improve on it and to discuss future opportunities and challenges.

The workshop is open to both staff and students, UG and PGT, and we encourage anyone who is interested to attend.

Student Speaker Series: New Frontiers in the Ancient World
Monday, 4 March 2024 and 7 March 2024, 4-6 pm

Enhancing Students’ Digital Learning Experience by Developing Skills in Audio and AI
Simon Rowberry, Information Studies 

This project enhanced the MA Publishing students’ digital learning experience through linking employability in practice-based publishing education with the academic research conducted within the Centre for Publishing. We focused on audio and AI as two areas of growth within the publishing industry that are active research interests but remain underdeveloped within our curriculum.

Students led on two mini projects focusing on audio and AI to both develop their own skills in these areas and aid the process of creating new resources for the revised MA Publishing curriculum. Read about the projects here!

The results of both mini projects were disseminated at a hybrid showcase event with invited members of the publishing industry and publishing educators at UCL and across the UK.

MA Publishing/Centre for Humanities Education – Student-led projects launch
Wednesday, 13 December 2023, 4:15-6 pm, Chadwick Building

Spineless Wonders
Sharon Morris, Slade School of Fine Art

‘Spineless Wonders’ aims to raise awareness of small press publications held in Special Collections in University and other libraries, and to promote teaching and research specifically at UCL and Senate House Library (SHL). One of the main objectives is that new connections between UCL librarians and archivists and those at SHL, and other external collections, generate shared knowledge that raise questions for further research.

‘Spineless Wonders’ is a network of artists, writers, academics, and librarians and archivists, creating and researching small press publications including artists’ books, zines and other ephemera. Since its formation, ‘Spineless Wonders’ has organised 4 one-day research events with a range of presentations and speakers, focussing on specific research themes. These public events took place with presenters based in libraries and collections and linked together via Zoom. The presentations and discussions aimed to address issues of the history and unique relevance of small press publications and ephemera. This funding helps to support two proposed events for Spineless Wonders, 2023-2024:

Languages of the UK (Part 1), 17 November 2023

In collaboration with the National Library of Wales, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, NLW/LLGC.

Touch and the Handmade, Spring 2024 (more information forthcoming)

Eclectic Resilience Hub 
Wendy Sims-Schouten, Arts and Sciences (UASc)

The Arts and Sciences department, in collaboration with other departments at UCL and beyond, are leading a number of exciting educational research and enhancement initiatives with a focus on interdisciplinarity, EDI and student wellbeing. This grant enables us to share and disseminate our preliminary findings and establish a hub/network for collaboration and dissemination entitled the ‘Eclectic Resilience Hub’ through a proposed conference.

Our ‘Eclectic Resilience’ Hub provides a new lens through which to view resilience and wellbeing in education, through coproduction with students, staff and the wider community, centralising personal experiences. Relevant projects are developed in response to identified gaps in teaching, education and research, most notably in the areas of EDI and student-led wellbeing.  Core projects comprise: a Changemakers funded collaborative project with students putting “whole well-being” at the core of education; an inclusive student coffee morning project, with a focus on peer support and wellbeing; a student-led alumni talk-show, with a focus on inclusive practice, wellbeing and transitions beyond the University, and a creative (public) health education including disability and neurodivergent experiences in education.

Working collaboratively with students and colleagues the proposed conference showcased the projects and related impact, most notably when it came to developing inclusive and interdisciplinary grounded resources for enhancing wellbeing and EDI practices. The launch event/conference reported on the four projects mentioned above, including contributions from students and external collaborators in relation to EDI and student wellbeing. Read about the launch here!

Launch of the Eclectic Resilience Hub
13 December 2023, 1-5 pm, Moot Court, UCL Bentham House

Located at the intersection of the arts, humanities and sciences our ‘Eclectic Resilience’ Hub provides a new lens through which to view resilience and wellbeing, through coproduction with students, staff and the wider community, centralising personal experiences. Working collaboratively with students and colleagues, the event will showcase the projects and related impact, most notably when it comes to developing inclusive and interdisciplinary grounded resources for enhancing wellbeing and EDI practices. Using the umbrella term ‘Eclectic Resilience’, we aim in the medium term to create a hub as a home for our uniquely interdisciplinary research and teaching enhancement projects putting human resilience and wellbeing at the core. Click here to register for this event!

Student Experience in the São Paulo Turing School
Ana Claudia Suriani da Silva, SELCS

This project aimed to explore and document the student abroad experience in the São Paulo Turing Summer School which took place between 31 July and 27 August 2023. This is a campus-based school which focused on the representation of the city of São Paulo in modernist and contemporary literature and includes visits to museums. University of São Paulo (USP) students participated in the course to encourage cultural and linguistic exchange with UCL students.

By delving into the various aspects of the programme, this project provided insights and contributed to the improvement of the educational experience of UCL students in their Year Abroad. Through the creation of podcasts and blog posts, the project aimed to disseminate the students’ experiences to the UCL community, through the UCL Centre for Humanities Education blog and/or the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the SELCS websites. It is the first time that a project focusing on SELCS Year Abroad activities is conducted, providing students with an opportunity to investigate their own learning experiences in depth.

The outputs of this project serves as not only reflections of students’ experiences but also valuable resources for the Faculty and SELCS to enhance their YA activities. Additionally, the project fostered a sense of community through facilitating discussions, feedback exchanges, and collaboration among students. The podcasts and blog posts acted as promotional materials, attracting prospective participants and highlighting the value of the Turing Summer School to the wider academic community and the public. Lastly, the project encouraged students to critically evaluate teaching methods, curriculum design, and the overall structure of the Turing Summer School, providing valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Click here to visit the blog.

Grammar and Proofreading Workshops for MA students in Comparative Literature
Xiaofan Amy Li, SELCS-CMII

This project ran five workshop sessions on grammar, proofreading, and copy-editing, taught by 2-3 PGTAs to individual MA students studying Comparative Literature. Workshops were targeted at international students who have not previously written longer essays in English, esp. Chinese students (majority of MA Comp Lit cohort). Workshops focused on linguistic issues in writing, including: grammatical accuracy, clarity of expression, use of idiomatic language, logical transitions between sentences, avoiding awkward constructions and vague expressions, and how to do proofreading effectively.

There is no existing module or training that addresses this most basic and substantial part of students’ writing. MA core modules and the Writing Lab focus on planning, structure and argument, and research skills. My own PGR/PGT students tell me they need someone to look at their grammar, but course tutors’/writing lab’s feedback do not focus on linguistic corrections. 1-1 feedback is also very valuable as it can address precisely the individual writing questions each student has.

These workshops enhanced EDI among MA students at SELCS-CMII, providing some support for international students who are less trained to write in academic English than home students and students who have English as their first language.

Read a blog post about these workshops here.

Launch of the Mentorship Scheme organised by the Early Modern Scholars of Colour (EMSOC) Network
Shani Bans, English

In Shakespeare and Early Modern Studies there is significant underrepresentation of faculty of colour employed in permanent positions in UK universities, due to institutional racism in higher education; unconscious and conscious bias in selection of candidates for study and employment; lack of opportunities for students of colour to progress to postgraduate study; lack of funding opportunities, networking and socialisation opportunities for postgraduates of colour; Shakespeare and early modern literature/drama is not consistently presented in schools and universities as an inclusive site of enquiry.

The Early Modern Scholars of Colour Mentorship Scheme is one way to address these challenges. The Early Modern Scholars of Colour Network, organised in partnership with The Globe Theatre and KCL, is an anti-racist collective that aims to address some of these challenges while working to nurture and enable students, ECR and academics of colour to develop academic and pedagogic networks; find and/or create intellectual spaces that are inclusive and progressive; and enable inclusive practices in the discipline through mentoring. In July, the EMSOC will invite scholars and graduate students at various career levels to join the scheme as either a ‘Mentor’ or a ‘Mentee’ in order to foster productive relationships that will see scholars of colour receiving the necessary guidance and care that will allow them to thrive in their research work.

In order to facilitate mentorship and build a network, this grant supported the Mentorship Scheme launch event at the beginning of the 2023/2024 academic year. This mentorship scheme helps MA and PhD students of colour receive the support they need outside of the small bubble of Forster Court. Within the Faculty, this initiative will allow scholars from early modern historical and cultural studies who also seek mentorship. Beyond this, the aim of the mentorship scheme is to build a network therefore allowing UCL to collaborate with KCL and Shakespeare’s Globe; facilitating communication between often isolated and marginalised students of colour and mentors who understand the hurdles they may face.

Early Modern Scholars of Colour Mentorship Social
15 December 2023, 6-9 pm, Shakespeare’s Globe

Mentees and Mentors in the Early Modern Scholars of Colour mentorship scheme foster productive relationships that will see scholars of diverse backgrounds receiving the necessary guidance and care that will allow them to thrive in their research work.

Join us for some light nibbles and friendly conversation if you’re a current or possible future EMSOC mentee/mentor!

For more information on this mentorship scheme, click here.

e-Expert seminar series in Translation and Language Teaching
Marga Navarrete, SELCS

This seminar on Medical Translation will be the 7th edition of our e-Expert seminar series in Translation and Language Teaching, a collaboration between UCL (Centre for Translation Studies, CenTraS) and the University of Cordoba (Spain), which started in 2018 and has since caught enormous attention worldwide. Our seminars devote a special emphasis to the areas of assessment and feedback, interdisciplinarity and EDI challenges. The Dementia Research Centre would constitute the perfect opportunity for this seminar to serve as a platform of their work. This well-established partnership is also attracting considerable attention from the School and Faculty and is likely to become a long-term teaching initiative that follows principles that are similar to the Portfolio scheme put forward by members of this committee at SELCS/CMII.

We strive to promote presential and remote participation, so accessibility will be ensured by coaching our keynote speakers on how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to differing disabilities. Most importantly, attendance to our e-seminar is offered free of charge.

The seminars will follow the following format on two separate events: 13 June and 12 September 2023, both taking place in UCL. This funding supports the 12 September event, which will include:

• Individual talks by keynote speakers followed by Q&A sessions.
• A practical workshop for language and translation tutors wishing to carry out situated medical translation experiences in the classroom.
• A roundtable with experts followed by a Q&A session in which keynote speakers, experts, attendees and organisers can interact and contribute to a more informal discussion.

All talks will be recorded live so as to be included in an ISBN-registered e-book published by UCO Press. The e-book is now available for download, and you can read a blog post about the event here.