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Nelson Mandela Anti-Racism Week 2023

On Friday, 20 June 2003, Nelson Mandela, Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws at the University.

  Nelson and Iggy C

Twenty years later from the 20th – 24th March 2023, we hosted the inaugural Nelson Mandela Anti-Racism Week with our  Nelson Mandela Anti-Racism Week 2023 Programme. /Seachtain Frithchiníochais Nelson Mandela 2023The week of events coincided with International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, annually observed on March 21st. The week of events was designed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Nelson Mandela by the University of Galway in 2003.  There were over 20 events that were designed to be deliberative and interactive, facilitating discussions, learning and engagement on a wide range of issues relevant to race, ethnicity and anti-racism. The diverse programme of events during Nelson Mandela Anti-Racism week was based on a collaborative approach throughout the university, supported by the Office of the Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

20th Anniversary-Nelson Mandela Anti-Racism Week 2023

Remembering Nelson Mandela’s conferring ceremony at the University of Galway

‌South African Ambassador

 The Intersection between Racism and Public Spaces

 Intersection between Racism and Public Spaces

L:R Ikenna Anyabuike, Rosemarie Maughan,  Emer O’Neill,  Dr Amanullah De Sondy, Aoife Cooke & Owen Ward

‌Racism is still prevalent, from the big bright stages out in public to the dark corners of the internet. Emer O’Neill, Rosemarie Maughan and Dr Amanullah De Sondy called out racism and experienced the backlash. Emer O’Neill delivered the keynote address on her experiences and her ongoing struggle to fight against racism in Ireland, followed by a panel discussion with Emer O’Neill, Rosemarie Maughan, Dr Amanullah De Sondy and Ikenna Anyabuike, chaired by Aoife Cooke.

Experience Africa Day-Nelson Mandela Anti-Racism Week 2023

Attending the experience Africa day in Áras na Mac Léinn, 22nd March 2023

Master Students attending Race Equality event

HEA Race Equality (First Annual event)

The first HEA National Race Equality Conference was hosted by the University of Galway (Institute for Lifecourse and Society building, ILAS building) on Monday 20th March 2023. Over 100 attendees from institutions in Ireland and abroad attended the event. HEA Race Equality pics

Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President, University of Galway, opened the event followed by Professor Kalpana Shankar launching of the Anti-Racism Principles for Irish Higher Education Institutions: A Panel discussion was held on race and anti-racism with panelists Siobhán Kangataran (Chair), Dr Nata Duvvury, Thomas McCann, Tonye Benson-Olatunde, Liam Thornton and Professor Kalpana Shankar.

Dr Arun Verma, Bristol University (keynote speaker), is the former Head of the Race Equality Charter at Advance HE, and a leading strategic figure in co-creating and implementing equity, diversity, inclusion, and intersectionality initiatives into meaningful applications across programme, policy, people and culture functions in the United Kingdom and internationally. 

A series of workshops took place in the afternoon:

  • Developing race equality plans (Dr Lucy Michael and Dr Niloufar Omidi)
  • Institutional Experiences of Advancing and Implementing Race Equality (Owen Ward and Oluchi Porter)
  • The Voiceless Colony (Dr Sarah Sartori and Lilian Nwanze)
  • University of Sanctuary (Professor Lorraine McIlrath, Dr Veronica Crosbie, Aidan Harte and Karina Curley)
  • Actions in the HEA Race Equality Implementation Plan (Dr Ross Woods)