Report: ‘Race’ and Socially Engaged Research Conference, 19/20th June 2024

On the 19th and 20th of June, Raj Mann and Jack Harris attended the ‘Race’ and Socially Engaged Research Conference at The University of York. YCEDE provided some funds through our internship scheme and had committed funding to subsidise any conference fee and travel for any YCEDE PGRs to attend. The conference was organised by York’s Anti-Racist Working Group, which is co-led by our wonderful Scholars Board Member Melissa Williams alongside Susy Williams. 

Mel, Susy and the rest of the ARWG produced an exceptionally sensitive, thought-provoking, and engaging conference. Significant thought had been put into the ways in which organisers, presenters, and panellists can all play their part in creating a safe space for reflection, expression, and debate.YCEDE were so proud to be asked to be a sponsor of the event as it was truly inspiring. 

When it came to the presentations themselves, there was a fantastic range of topics covered such as adoptees’ experiences of the adoption system, the importance of care and optimism as a form of resistance instead of more masculinist conceptions of ‘heroic’ activism, the concept of fugitivity and anti-racist scholar activism in universities, and the militarisation of higher education through funding ties to arms manufacturers.The PGRs who presented at this conference were all wonderfully articulate and immensely passionate about their research, which was great to see and a testament to the importance of widening access and inclusion to PGR level study.

As well as research presentations, there were also interactive workshops taking place in the afternoons, which fostered further collaboration and empathetic understanding between participants, and focused on topics such as Ubuntu philosophy and a fascinatingly spiritual and introspective exploration of objects as a tool for storytelling.

On the evening of the first day of the conference, there was a drinks reception hosted at York St John University, where attendees heard from Prof Kiran Trehan (Pro-Vice Chancellor, Enterprise, Partnerships and Engagement) and Sarli Nana, from Migrants Organise Yorkshire. 

We certainly came away with lots of ideas and thoughts which have inspired the YCEDE project to re-think and take stock. We are very grateful to the Anti-Racist Working Group for sharing their safety statement and this along with some useful feedback will be embedded into work on safety, inclusivity, positionality and ‘allyship’ so the team should be really proud that their hard work and achievements are inspiring change all around them.

Please see our YCEDE safety statement which has been taken from and tweaked by the Anti-Racist Working Group and watch this space for some additional work and recommendations for all teams looking to develop and improve race equality in their work.