Our first event was a webinar scheduled for 21 March 2023 – as this is the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination. It seemed like a great time to launch the network and Professors Ilina Singh and Keisha S. Ray had accepted our invitation to speak. However, as the UCU strike action is ongoing, we made the decision to cancel the event and arrange an alternative. In lieu of the webinar, we organised a limited series of podcasts exploring “power and privilege in academia”. Each podcast is led by one of the BBB co-founders, and it is in conversation with different academics committed to advancing social justice. We are grateful to be supported by University of Bristol, Research England and Oxford Podcasts.
Listen to the following episodes:
Inclusivity in Publishing – Dr Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra and Dr Sabrina Germain discuss the injustices, barriers, and challenges faced by minoritised academics in the publishing world, and the changes needed.
Disrupting hierarchies to transform academia and medicine – Dr Annabel Sowemimo and Professor Amaka Offiah share powerful insights on dismantling hierarchies in academia and medicine, exposing the myths of meritocracy and the urgent need to transform education and healthcare systems.
More episodes will be released weekly. You can subscribe to the Power and Privilege in Academia episodes on Apple podcasts or the University of Oxford Podcasts website.
Resources and related content
Inclusivity in publishing
Also listen to the podcast where EIC Brandy Schillace speaks to Matimba Swana and Kumeri Bandara about the Black and Brown in Bioethics program, and working harder to bring ECR scholars into print. You can listen to Black and Brown in Bioethics: A new Medical Humanities Research Forum, read the Medical Humanities blog post or visit the page on the Medical Humanities Research Forum.
Disrupting hierarchies to transform academia and medicine
Here are the links to the resources referenced in the podcast:
- NHS – Race and Health Observatory and University of Manchester published the report – Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare: A Rapid Evidence Review and Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare: A Rapid Evidence Review summary by Dharmi Kapadia, Jingwen Zhang, Sarah Salway, James Nazroo, Andrew Booth, Nazmy Villarroel-Williams, Laia Bécares & Aneez Esmail, February 2022
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” Ted Talk, in 2009, explores the negative influences that a “single story” can have as it can rob people of their dignity, and emphasizes there are so many differences amongst those of us who are homogenised under particular labels.
- Professor Lilian Otaye-Ebede becomes the 41st Black Female Professor in the UK
- Generation Delta is an Office for Students/Research England funded project running from 2022-2026, led by six BAME female professors, all of whom are members of the Black Female Professors Forum.
- Melanin medics is a national charity promoting racial diversity in Medicine, widening aspirations and aiding career progression.