Programme

Friday 3rd July 2026

Keep an eye out on this page for updates on the conference programme and invited speakers!

SPEAKERS - CONFERENCE ROUNDTABLE

Reflections on the conference themes with invited speakers

Dr Amal Abu-Bakare, Professor Iwi Ugiagbe-Green, Professor Rochelle Burgess and Dr Maisha Islam

Dr Amal Abu-Bakare

Amal Abu-Bakare is a lecturer in the politics of race and decolonial studies at the University of Liverpool. She received her PhD in International Politics from Aberystwyth University. Her current research profile remains centred on using anti-colonial IR theory to explore how North American and European political/security institutions continue to empower racially configured exclusions and terror. She is currently finishing her upcoming book under contract with Manchester University Press. It is titled The Colour of Counterterrorism: anti-terrorism and race in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Professor Iwi Ugiagbe-Green

Professor Rochelle Burgess

Dr Maisha Islam

Dr Maisha Islam is the Research Culture Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Southampton’s Doctoral College. Her research areas of interest and expertise centre student engagement, and racial and religious equity in higher education. She is a co-editor of the recently published book ‘Uncovering Islamophobia in Higher Education: Supporting the success of Muslim students and staff’, and co-Chair of a Research England/Office for Students Steering Group seeking to improve access and participation of racially minoritised students in postgraduate research.

WORKSHOP FACILITATOR- Abíọ́dún 'Abbey' Abdul

Exploring Auto-Narratives and Writing Autoethnography

Have you ever read an autobiography and felt enlightened by the narrative’s life lessons? Is it possible to blend such life lessons with academically rigorous research, creating valuable new auto-narrative genres? What types of knowledge production emerges from auto-theory vs auto-geography, and why is auto-ethnography becoming increasingly popular as a qualitative methodology, particularly in decolonising discussions? What sub-genres exist in auto-ethnography and how might they be more relevant for our specific research needs? How to argue against the pushback against this arts-based methodology from both academic and artistic/creative opponents? Which creative techniques can we use to bring the narratives to life, making our hard-hitting research more engaging for a wider readership?

All this and more is covered in this dynamic workshop’s interactive learning session. The following activity session then reviews sample autoethnographies before some writing practice where you take control of your own research narratives. Embracing the conference theme of ‘Resistance, Global Solidarities and Imagining Otherwise’, let’s reimaging a more inclusive and creative research landscape embracing multiple positionalities as we explore auto-narratives & write autoethnography.

Abíọ́dún 'Abbey' Abdul

Abíọ́dún (pronounced A-byaw-doon) Abdul is an Academic English Skills Lecturer and Critical Creative Doctoral Researcher. She is writing a memoir-polemic/autoethnographical series ‘Stained Glass Eyes: Race, Family and Multiculturalism’ capturing an in-depth account of how racism affects Black lives in low-diversity regions, encompassing her schooling across Yorùbá-Nigeria, Scots-Britain and Japan (through a Japanese Government secondary-school scholarship). Book 1 is nearing publication and Book 2 comprises her doctorate funded by a UoN Faculty of Arts Scholarship. A regularly commissioned creative writer and performer of narrative non-fiction, short stories and poetry, Abíọ́dún was voted UNESCO Global Poetry Slam Champion 2022 by international panellists, going on to judge the 2023 global competition. She has been published in anthologies; writes/podcasts for literary magazines, performs at literary festivals/ events, delivers writing workshops, presents at academic conferences, and founded Global Majority Writers (GMW)with 250+ members worldwide.