Student-led UNIC Dialogue Series event at University College Cork

20 Nov 2024

How can we use creative approaches to foster an inclusive campus? This was a question posed by UNIC’s University College Cork student reps Ella Barrett and Maddalena Fortune-Brandi, who delivered a student-facing creative workshop on November 20th 2024.

Ella and Maddalena brought in creative and educational expertise from across the campus to shape this event for students, consulting staff experts from the Glucksman gallery; the UNIC Thematic Line of Arts, Culture and Creativity; the Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning. Students attended from across campus and a range of university societies. 

The event took the form of a creative workshop which invited students to ‘warm up’ their creative approaches and then to share ideas on how to develop inclusion on campus, develop creativity in students, and deliver new creative spaces.  

As a next step to this vibrant event, Ella and Maddalena are collating the ideas and identifying the potential for bringing some into reality – collaborating with other UCC students and staff. 

One of the many themes emerging from the workshop was that students identified they would like to see more representations on campus of the wide range of nationalities and cultures; whether through music, sharing food, a mural or collective collage. The existing UCC ‘rainbow walkway’ for LGBT+ pride was identified as a great existing example of expressing inclusion on campus.