CANCELLED Bystander Intervention at UCC: Developing and evaluating a sexual violence prevention programme for 3rd level (Safari Annex, Carrigbawn, Donovan's Road, 11:00)

Modelled on The Intervention Initiative (Fenton, Mott, McCartan & Rumney, 2014), The Bystander Intervention initiative at UCC is a programme-based, credit-bearing academic module which seeks to address issues of sexual and relationship violence amongst students, by encouraging an understanding of the dangers of the social normalisation of abusive behaviour and the related capacity of a bystanderto intervene. The bystander intervention approach is premised upon the fact that as members of society every person is a bystander and thus often positioned to act and/or intervene.

The aim of this presentation is twofold. In the first instance, it will explain the merits of bystander intervention as an educational strategy to develop students’ awareness and understanding of the challenging issue of sexual assault on university campuses, with reference to the Bystander Intervention programme at UCC. The presentation will be informed not only by the evidence-based research upon which the programme has been developed, but also by the experience at UCC of the pilot which was incorporated into the curriculum of all first year law students at the Law School, UCC in 2016/17. Secondly, this presentation will provide an insight into the challenges faced in introducing a mandatory for-credit module to an already busy and regulated 60 credit structure, and will demonstrate the importance of securing buy-in and support from university management as well as the student body, student support services and academic colleagues.

Bio:

Dr Louise Crowley is a Senior Lecturer in Family Law at the School of Law, UCC where she is also the Director of the LLM (Child and Family Law), the LLM (Practitioner) and the Family Law Clinic. Louise’s research examines Irish family law, with particular focus on regulatory responses to changing family formations and associated inter parte financial obligations; and separately, the adequacy of domestic violence laws and interventionist processes both nationally and internationally. Louise is widely published and is the author of the leading Irish Family law text for students, practitioners and the Irish judiciary.

Louise has introduced a module on bystander intervention to UCC, to encourage a greater understanding and awareness of the normalisation of sexual misconduct and to empower students to challenge the perceived behavioural norms relating to gender based violence on university campuses. The module is in its second pilot year and is currently delivered to first year students in the Schools of Law and School of Nursing and midwifery and the School of Applied Psychology. Related to this work, Louise is a member of the Irish National advisory committee for the Ending of Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education project being led by the National Women’s Council of Ireland. Louise is also a member of the Governing Body of UCC.

The Bumpy Journey Towards the Irish Sign Language Act (BHSC G06, 13:00)

Speaker: Dr John Bosco Conama

ISS21 Disability and Mental Health Research Cluster Event, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex Room G06

Event information: The Irish Sign Language Act 2017 was passed into law on 24th December 2017. Irish Sign Language (ISL) is now officially designated as a native and independent language in the Republic of Ireland. In this seminar, Dr John Bosco Conama will chart the progress of the ISL recognition campaign and explore some critical considerations for language rights activism.

Note on the presenter: John Bosco Conama is the director of the Centre for Deaf Studies in University of Dublin, Trinity College. His doctorate focuses on equality issues affecting Deaf communities and his research interests are: equality and social policy issues affecting Irish and international Deaf communities. He also teaches Deaf studies-related modules. He is on the World Federation of Deaf's Expert Group on Sign Language and Deaf Studies.

This event is free to attend but registration is required. Please register at the following link to secure a place:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-bumpy-journey-towards-the-irish-sign-language-act-tickets-43338202731