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Activist-in-Residence Programme
UCL’s Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation is welcoming applications for our Activist-in-Residence programme (AIR) 2022/23. This initiative aims to encourage mutual learning and collaboration between activists, students, and researchers, thereby fostering new models of publicly-oriented scholarship and community engagement in the broadly defined field of research around the history and consequences of racism and racialisation.
The AIR programme will bring two activists into UCL for a six-month period, during which they will be expected to conduct their own research project, contribute their organisational skills and activist experience to the work of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre and UCL more generally, as well as to work with other stakeholders on site to enrich the intellectual and political experience of UCL students and staff. We will be looking for one activist to start in September 2022, and a second activist to start in January 2023.
The programme will provide activists, artists, and public intellectuals with opportunities to explore or study a complex issue arising from political, social and cultural work undertaken at community level, and to imagine new approaches to scholarship that will improve the lives of people in local and national communities. The aim is to support the development of thoughtful and innovative leadership engaged directly with charitable and campaigning organisations and groups that influence public policy, community advocacy and grassroots activity.
The Activist-in-Residence (AIR) programme
The AIR will be offered a grant of £15,000 to work within the SPRC in ways which benefit both the UCL community and wider networks of individuals, groups, and communities struggling against racial and imperial hierarchy and inequality in Britain and globally. With the grant, it is anticipated that this would be a full-time commitment. Specifically, they will be asked to:
- Engage with the UCL community and/or the wider public on issues related to ‘race’ and racism through public activities. These could be panel discussions, lectures, seminars, workshops, performance events, podcasts or any other medium that allows people to explore issues of concern to the Centre and UCL more broadly.
- Directly work with students at UCL, engaging with the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) cohort and the Student Union.
- Produce a substantive piece of work that will be of enduring use to those researching and resisting racism, both within UCL and in wider communities. Possibilities include developing a repository/archive of resources on a specific event/issue; writing a report on a given topic; curating an online space; hosting an exhibition; completing a scoping study into a particularly important issue.
- Join some of our discussions at UCL around the legacies of colonialism and the dynamics of contemporary racism, within and beyond the institution.
This list of tasks remains flexible because the issues of interest to the Centre are diverse and multifaceted. We encourage applicants to bring their own ideas and plans for the programme. Responsibilities and deliverables willbe finalised once an individual activist is appointed, but applicants are asked to respond to the bullet points in their applications.
Importantly, the AIR should conduct work which will be of use to those organisations and communities to which they are accountable, and their period of residence can be viewed as an opportunity for a kind of sabbatical, an opportunity for reflection and research as well as an opportunity to build new dialogues with scholars, researchers and students. Applications should make clear how being part of UCL for six months will benefit their long-term community work and contribute to career development. Applications should also make clear your availability to start in September 2022 and/or January 2023.
Applicants need not have any prior experience of working with a university. SPRC is committed to providing support to help the AIR to navigate our university ‘walls’ and engage meaningfully with our communities. Applicants must be able to work in the UK.
Please read the Programme Overview for more information
Application process
Please complete and submit an Expression of Interest form along with your CV and/or link to a digital portfolio/website to the Sarah Parker Remond Centre Administrator: Kaissa Karhu, k.karhu@ucl.ac.uk
Timeline
Deadline for submission of applications: 30 June 2022, 5pm
Interviews: TBC
Residence starts: September 2022 and January 2023 (by agreement)
Residence ends: 6 months after start date
Contact for enquiries/applications
Kaissa Karhu, Administrator of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre: k.karhu@ucl.ac.uk
