Degrees of Belonging: The (Un)Homely University, 2021-2022

Ramakrishnan, Kavita and Priyadharshini, Esther and Ghaffar, Farhana (2024). Degrees of Belonging: The (Un)Homely University, 2021-2022. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-856108

Belonging is an emotional affiliation that relates individuals to the worlds they inhabit. The relationship between Black and minority ethnic doctoral students’ experiences of time and space and their sense of belonging at university is under-explored, despite its implications for inclusivity and academic achievement. We propose an exploratory study utilising creative, participatory approaches to examine how everyday experiences of space and time during doctoral study impacts conceptualisations of belonging. We will build a partnership with 10-12 students from the University of East Anglia who identify across various axes of social difference. We center race/ethnicity, but acknowledge intersections of nationality, gender, sexuality, class, disability, indigeneity and lived experiences of mental health challenges, that affect belonging. ​We will co-create a project 'roadmap' with students, drawing on decolonial methods. From a portfolio of methods, students can choose those that best capture their sense of spatial and temporal belonging at the university. A speculative framework will also encourage students to envision alternative conditions which may foster a greater sense of belonging. Analysis and findings will be drafted and disseminated collaboratively with students. This will support a larger comparative study to establish the relationship between spatial and temporal dimensions of doctoral student belonging and its impact on mental health in different institutions.

Data description (abstract)

'Degrees of Belonging: The (Un)Homely University' contains mixed media collages, creative-critical writing, and personal-essay style pieces that interrogate the nature of belonging. This zine's creators invite you to witness, from their perspective, the effects on mental health of a University whose desire for you to belong is not always readily apparent. From a small collective of staff and doctoral students of colour at UEA, this jam-packed zine details their experiences of belonging in a place which can sometimes feel like home, other times like the furthest thing from it.

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