Programme


19th-20th June 2024

 Law and Management Building (LMB), Campus East, University of York, UK

This event will be held over two days, running from 9am - 4pm. There is an optional evening reception following the first day, from 6:30pm - 8:30pm, which will include a keynote speaker and space to network with community groups and other conference attendees. Please see details of our confirmed speakers and workshop facilitators below.


*REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN*

To register for the 2024 'Race' and Socially Engaged Research: Open and Inclusive Conference for PGRs and ECRs, please use this online store form. 

!!! Please note that registration for the evening reception is on a separate form. The reception is an opportunity for delegates to network and meet with local anti-racist community groups and members. We have partnered with York Refugee Week to host this evening event, which is free of charge and open to all. It therefore has a separate registration process to the daytime conference event. If you would like to attend or find out more information about the evening event, you can visit our Eventbrite page.


Draft schedule

19th June

Conference Day One, 9am - 4pm (Law and Management Building, University of York):


Optional Evening Reception, 6:30pm - 8:30pm (Holgate Dining Hall, York St John University):


20th June

Conference Day Two, 9am - 4pm (Law and Management Building, University of York):

SPEAKERS - ROUNDTABLE 1


Radical Friendship, Sisterhood and Struggling Where We Are?

Patricia Hamilton

Patricia Hamilton is a lecturer in the Sociology department at the University of York. Her work explores reproduction, parenting and family from the perspective of black families and other marginalised groups. Her book Black Mothers and Attachment Parenting was published in 2020 and shortlisted for the British Sociological Association’s Philip Abrams Memorial Prize. Her most recent project is an intersectional feminist analysis of parenting leave policies in the UK since the 1970s, specifically asking black parents about their experiences of using maternity, paternity and Shared Parental Leave. Originally from South Africa, Patricia is passionate about social justice, impactful research and leaving a better world for the next generation.

Juliana Mensah


Juliana Mensah is a lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University of York. Her interdisciplinary research is frequently engaged with issues of human rights and social justice with a keen interest in exploring the use of creative methodologies to expose hidden histories, diversify narratives and challenge pervasive cultural dynamics. Recent projects have included the Security and Protection of Human Rights Defenders at Risk, Law of Asylum, and Verandah of Protection.


Her literary research focuses on black British writers and her creative writing spans prose and theatre. Her plays have been produced by Pilot Theatre in York and Live Theatre in Newcastle, among others. Her short stories have been published by Comma Press, Dead Ink and Bloomsbury, and her debut novel was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the inaugural NorthBound Book Award.

Dominique Walker


Dominique Walker is a lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University within the School for Justice, teaching across policing studies, criminology & criminal justice. Dominique’s research interests includes Black feminist thought and theory, intersectionality, hate crime policing, race, and racism. Dominique has worked to challenge hate crime and promote anti-racism, equity, and fairness in her community and with her family created The Anthony Walker Foundation (AWF), a charity set up after the untimely death of her brother Anthony in July 2005- Dominique is the Chair of AWF. AWF works to promote racial harmony through education, music, and sport. 

In 2014, Dominique was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Liverpool John Moores University for her commitment to celebrating diversity, community development and cohesion. Dominique is currently studying for her PhD in Sociology, Criminology and Social Policy at University of Liverpool and co-founder of the Goddess Projects (TGP), a social enterprise designed to help Black women achieve in all aspects of their lives. Dominique is also mother, to two girls.


Natalie Denny


Natalie Denny is the award-winning force behind Skywriters Ltd, a creative education social enterprise. Her roles include author, activist, poet, and EDI Consultant.

 

KEISHA JONES TAKES ON THE WORLD was Natalie’s debut book and published on 3rd August 2023 with Little Tiger UK. Her second book, KEISHA JONES IS A FORCE OF NATURE, published 1st February 2024.

 

Natalie is also chair of The Period Project Merseyside and co-founder of The Goddess Projects, an organisation with the mission to empower, inspire and assist Black women and women of colour to develop and achieve in their communities.

SPEAKERS - ROUNDTABLE 2


Reimagining anti-racism beyond diversification, representation and traditional approaches to EDI?

Ayo Barley

Ayo set up Bakare Barley, an equality training consultancy, in 2021 after almost two decades of working in equality, diversity and inclusion. The idea came from an awakening in society of structural barriers facing minoritized groups, and the need to provide support for organisations to take trusted and sensitive approaches to improve the experiences and outcomes for their staff, service users and customers. Ayo has worked in race equality and gender equality organisations since the early 2000s when she started her career at Race Equality West Midlands (REWM). She went on to work in a number of grass roots community organisations, and government funded initiatives supporting women in STEM careers, refugee, asylum seeker and migrant communities, and young people at risk of anti-social behaviour. Between 2011-2019 she also led the charity New Leaders Network, providing training and development for underserved community groups. Ayo is an Independent Advisor to Citizens Advice on equalities issues, Chair of the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Postdoctoral Education (YCEDE) External Advisory Board,  and co-founded the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff network. 

Yvie Holder


Yvie has been promoting diversity and equality for over 30 years, in both a personal and a professional capacity. Born in London, to a Trinidadian father and English mother, and raised in Kingston Upon Hull, Yvie came to study at the University of York, where she graduated in 1976.  She became a teacher of English and Drama in a West Yorkshire comprehensive school for seven years, and was the first black President of her local union branch. She has been instrumental in the setting up of various initiatives in York, and has been a volunteer as a school governor, as a mentor for women, in work with older people and in the Alzheimer’s Society.

Because of discrimination she had experienced and observed, Yvie decided to devote her time to improving equal opportunities in organisations. In 1989 she set up her own business and for the next 25 years, she provided training and consultancy to hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people in organisations all over Yorkshire. These included teachers, social workers, school dinner supervisors, magistrates, police constables, the probation service, people involved in childcare and many others.  She also tutored adults returning to education later in their lives. Her courses were as varied as Equality Law and Policy; Assertiveness and Confidence Building; Making Friends through Stories; Management Development; dealing with racism; working with diversity. 

In 1994 Yvie became the founder/chair of York Racial Equality Network – YREN. Initially YREN had no funding or office so a small group met in each other’s houses and made plans. They created events, “Gatherings”, to bring people together, where they heard people’s concerns and offered support over harassment, racial attacks and discrimination. They paid for these activities out of their own pockets until their work was recognised better known and understood. Eventually they received funding, employed staff and became a charity. 

Karisha George

Dr Karisha Kimone George began her tertiary education in Trinidad and Tobago completing her undergraduate in Psychology and Sociology at the University of the West Indies. She then moved to the United Kingdom to complete her Masters in Applied Forensic Psychology and PhD in Psychology at the University of York. She came to the University of York in 2021 after completing her first Post-Doctoral position at Newman University followed by her first lectureship at De Montfort University. Her favourite word is 'predicament', but only when spoken in exactly the same manner as John Travolta in 'Face Off'. Her research interests are varied and include -

Emily Zobel Marshall  

WORKSHOP FACILITATORS - click on the facilitator's name for further details

Black and Gold Education Workshop

Community Empowerment Through Ubuntu: embracing Scholar Activism for Decolonial Transformation inside and outside Academia 

What's theory got to do with it? The silly archives, films & TV, and popular trash as cultural revolution

York Anti-Racist Collective (YARC)

Talking Objects: an exploration of objects as a tool for storytelling

KEYNOTE SPEAKER - evening reception

Sarli Nana- Migrants Organise