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Anti-Racism

At UCL Anthropology the work of eradicating racism in all its forms is being led by a specialized independent committee due to the department's recognition of the critical importance of this work. The Anti-Racisms Committee (ARC) engages in critically examining all aspects of the Department’s practice – including its casual, routinized, and institutionalized forms – to ensure that UCL Anthropology is experienced as an actively anti-racist work, study, and social environment by all our students and staff. As part of this process, the ARC is working to coordinate efforts to: decolonize the curriculum and pedagogy; make the staff body is more representative and diverse; widen the participation, diversity, and inclusion of students; make sure that our research is anti-racist and meets the highest ethical standards; and improve communication across all areas of the department.

The committee is composed of the following members and working groups:

Chair

The ARC Co-Chairs organize committee meetings, coordinate the activities and responsibilities of the working groups, and communicate with Anthropology’s EDI Committee as well as anti-racism programmes and representatives beyond the department:

  • Marcas Mag Oireachtaigh

  • Rafael Schacter

Pedagogy Working Group

The ARC Pedagogy Working Group works to ensure the Department’s curriculum and forms of teaching are anti-racist:

  • Gareth Breen
  • Michael D'Arcy
  • Ellen Evans
  • Caroline Garaway
  • Haidy Geismar
  • Marcas Mag Oireachtaigh
  • Chris Pinney

Staff Diversity Working Group

The ARC Staff Diversity Working Group works to make the staff body more representative and diverse:

  • Toyin Agbetu
  • Kimberly Chong
  • Adam Drazin
  • Helene Neveu Kringelbach

Student Inclusivity and Diversity Working Group

The ARC Student Inclusivity and Diversity Working Group works to widen the participation, diversity, and inclusion of students in the department:

  • Alecia Carter
  • Alison Macdonald
  • Rafael Schacter

Ethical Research Working Group

The Ethical Research Working Group works to ensure that all the research going on within the Department is anti-racist, decolonized, and meets the highest ethical standards:

  • Rik Adriaans
  • Marie-Annick Moreau
  • Emily Woodhouse

Communications working group

The ARC Communications Working Group is responsible for ensuring that communication across all areas of the Department reflects our commitment to anti-racism:

  • Lewis Daly
  • Aaron Parkhurst
  • Anthony Harris
  • Tone Walford

Student Representatives

Student representatives ensure student perspectives are included in ARC meetings and initiatives

  • Mustafa Almi'Ani (UG)
  • Olivia Brown (PG)
  • Hanwen Cao (UG)

  • Ruman Kallar (PG)

UCL Anthropology Anti-Racism & Decolonizing events

Staff and students can find regular updates on the ARC’s Moodle page.

Upcoming Events

  • Wed 18 May 2022, 11am-1pm: 'On the limits/possibilities of decolonization within the neoliberal university'
    A Roundtable discussion with Nayanika Mathur (Oxford), Toyin Agbetu (UCL), Suda Perera (Sussex), Xine Yao (UCL)
  • Wed 25 May 2022, 11am-1pm: 'Lessons from Decolonizing our "Introduction to Social Anthropology" module' 
    A presentation by Julia Sauma & Emma Abotsi, Lecturers in Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London

Past Events

  • 5 June 2020: Tackling Institutional Racism and De-Colonisatio
  • 25 November 2020: Departmental Workshop - Roundtable on "What is racism? And how is anthropology racist?"
  • 9 December 2020: Departmental Workshop - Starting a Conversation on Race with EDI Ash Talwar (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager, UCL Human Resources)
  • 25 February 2021: Departmental Workshop - Continuing the Conversation about Race with Ash Talwar (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager, UCL Human Resources)
  • 2 June 2021: Departmental Seminar on Anti-Racist Pedagogy with Professor Kehinde Andrews, Professor of Black Studies, Birmingham City University

Training Sessions for Staff on Microaggressions:

  • Mon 15 March 2021: 4-5pm
  • Fri 19 March 2021: 10-11am
  • Tue 23 March 2021: 4-5pm

Session for Students on Microaggressions: 

  • Wed 17 March 2021: 1pm 
  • Wed 24 March 2021: 1pm

Key UCL Contacts and Sources of Information

UCLU

  • The Black and Minority Ethnic Students’ Officer represents BME students and students of colour on campus. The office is currently held by Sandy Ogundele. Email them at bmes.officer@ucl.ac.uk or phone them at 02076797392.
  • You can also join the UCLU BME Network by signing up to their Facebook page. You can also follow the Decolonise UCL page, which provides information on three linked UCLU campaigns Decolonise Education, Decolonise the Mind and Decolonise the Institution.
  • Finally, links to resources in and around London can be found here: Support for BME Students

Other Resources

Below are just a few of the specialist BME related support services promoted by both Camden and Islington Councils:

Contact reps

Staff:

  • Toyin Agbetu

Students:

  • Tarisha Kaushik