WIHEA Events
Anti-Racism Staff Forum: What’s language got to do with it?
by the WIHEA Anti-Racist Pedagogy & Process Learning Circle
Tuesday 24th March 2026, 2.30-4:00pm via Teams
Join us at the next meeting of the Anti-Racism Staff Forum at Warwick!
Our topic will be: What's language got to do with (anti-)racism?
How does the dominance of particular Englishes in global academia affect what it means for us to be an international, multilingual university?
Why might some students and staff decide -- or even feel pressured -- to adopt a different name when arriving at the University? Why is that some students and staff report difficulty pronouncing the names of others? What does this have to do with racism?
How might teaching "academic English" contribute to racism? What would an anti-racist writing pedagogy look like, and how does that relate to whose voices are heard here?
How can we connect with, support and learn from the diverse language repertoires of our staff and students? How can we respond well to each other's wide-ranging lived experiences of language in/visibility, dis/empowerment and mis/representation?
Together, we will consider:
• how our use of language/s (beyond racist terms and phrases) underpins racial inequality;
• the responsibilities of staff at internationalised, multilingual universities;
• what a language/s-aware practice of anti-racism might look like at Warwick.