Schedule of Events

Fridays, 12-1pm

30 April

Socio - Structural Inequalities and Covid-19 with Dr Gry Wester (KCL)

Our series begins with the very topical and ongoing issue of the Covid-19 pandemic. Join us in welcoming Dr Gry Wester, who will discuss the ways in which long standing structural inequalities become embedded in the management of pandemics.

7 May

VR and Digital Technology in Research Methods with Harshadha Balasubramanian (UCL)

Our second Lunch and Learn welcomes the brilliant Harsha Balasubramanian, a PhD candidate in UCL’s department of Anthropology who takes us through some of the possibilities which are available through the use of Virtual Reality as a research method, and what this could mean for us as political scientists.

14 May

Colourism and Beauty Standards with Dr Aisha Phoenix (SOAS)

Join us for a discussion about colourism and beauty standards with Dr Aisha Phoenix, whose research looks at the controversial issue of racism, colourism and intra-racial discriminatory practices which continue to permeate in global beauty standards.

21 May

Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism in the Present Day with Dr Hannah Elias (Goldsmiths)

‘Decolonising the curriculum’ has been a popular phrase over the past few years, and this week, we look in detail at how colonial legacies continue to manifest themselves in the present day with Dr Hannah Elias and precisely why we need to ‘decolonise’ aspects of our life.

28 May

UCL and the History of Eugenics with Subhadra Das

For our penultimate series, we are happy to welcome Subhadra Das, UCL’s former Curator of the UCL’s Science Collection, who will help us explore UCL’s controversial history with eugenics, and why it still matters now.

11 June

Stories of Immigration: Writing and the South Asian Experience in Britain with author Shahnaz Ahsan

For our final event, join us in welcoming Shahnaz Ahsan, author of ‘Hashim and Family’ (2020), her debut novel which tells the story of the Bengali immigrant experience in Britain and offers a more broader meditation on how we write, tell stories about, and perceive stories about minority populations.

*Trigger Warning:

Please be mindful that listeners and viewers of this series may encounter subjects which could cause mental distress. This series includes discussions about slavery, colonialism, eugenics, colourism, and other forms of epistemic violence. If you do happen to come across any material which you find distressing, please feel free to leave the meeting and let us know if you’d like to return and we will make sure you are readmitted.

Bits of housekeeping:

Lunch and Learn is an open space, encouraging productive, yet challenging dialogue about complex and often uncomfortable issues. With this in mind, please be thoughtful and engage with integrity. Racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and classism will not be tolerated in these seminars.

Lunch and Learn Series