Unveiling biases in AI, championing urban justice in Ghana and Pakistan, decolonising universities in the Netherlands, and exploring feminist resistance. These are some of the research aims of participants in the 2024 edition of the interdisciplinary Connected Learning Symposium. The event brought together academic insights and real-world activism, sparking innovative ideas for social equity.
The third Connected Learning Symposium took place in Rotterdam’s De Machinist on June 8th, 2024. Over 40 participants from various Erasmus University faculties (ESSB, ISS, IHS, EHSCC, ESPhil, ESL, and EUC) gathered to address pressing social inequalities worldwide. The starting point for discussion was the rich knowledge students and alumni have produced as part of their university coursework, bachelor’s and master's theses.
The symposium included two plenary sessions and six interdisciplinary panel discussions. See below for the complete programme and the photo gallery.
Accessibility across spaces: digital to urban
In the panel on “Disabilities and Accessibility,” presenters discussed how AI, VR, social media, and educational policies can enhance accessibility to education, cultural heritage, neuro-medical services, and media representation. They considered specific challenges and strategies to make crucial social spheres more inclusive. Extending this theme of accessibility, panellists in “Just Urban Livelihoods” explored barriers to equitable urban living in both formal and informal settings in the Netherlands, Ghana, India, and Pakistan. Their work highlighted the importance of participatory practices and inclusive policies to advance planning justice.
Navigating feminist lives and resistance
Focusing on oppressive structures such as capitalism, patriarchy, islamophobia, and Eurocentric beauty standards, the panel “In Search of Feminist Lives” delved into how motherhood, marketing, modest fashion, and sexual submission can potentially carve out spaces for feminist lives. The discussion emphasized the concept of choice and the complexities women face in exercising it. Continuing in the same vein of feminism and empowerment, the panel on “Gender-Based Violence and Resistance” explored initiatives combating gender-based violence and promoting women’s rights through gender-responsive climate budgeting and legal mobilization. Case studies from Nigeria, Indonesia, Chile, and Central America illustrated diverse strategies for challenging gender inequalities.
From global crises to campus activism
Transitional justice initiatives in Lebanon, aboriginal youth discrimination in Australia, refugee reception in Kenya, and the politics of migration categories in the Netherlands are topics that came together in the panel on “Conflict and Human Rights.” Discussions underscored the complex interplay of human rights, immigration, and conflict from legal and humanitarian perspectives shedding light on the profound impact on individuals, communities, and societies at large.
A final panel, “Voices of Change in Academia,” offered powerful insights into how these phenomena also, and significantly, impact universities. Participants inquired into the need to re-consider traditional modes of academic knowledge production and pedagogy. Students, they explained, are at the forefront of holding universities accountable and driving social justice through interdisciplinary approaches and activism. As explained by some of the panellists, the need to decolonize predominantly white academic spaces is particularly pressing for students of colour and has intensified in the last months as so many of them have raised their voice in support of Palestinians.
The power of artivism
In the final plenary, special guests Mostafa and Fleur Betaree from Spotlight Team International Art helped extend the conversation beyond traditional academic boundaries and sources of knowledge. They explained how their project “Spotlight in Gaza” aims to build resilience, inspire creativity, and foster a sense of belonging within the Gaza community by creating sustainable spaces that offer comfort and hope despite the challenging circumstances. The event included a live stream with a member of the organization in Gaza, further enriching the symposium’s scope, drawing attention to the situation there, and to the role of art in efforts for social justice.
The Connected Learning Symposium is financed by EUR’s Vital Cities and Citizens Initiative and is part of the Learning for Equality project. This year’s symposium received support from its newly formed interdisciplinary advisory board. The members of the board are: Siobhan Airey (ESL), Bonnie French (ESSB), Corinna Frey – Heger (RSM), Laura Garcia Portela (EPhil), Rosalba Icaza Garza (ISS), Roy Kemmers (EUC), and Ana Uribe Sandoval (ESHCC).
You can read about previous editions of the symposium here! A publication of the works presented will be available on the Learning for Equality website shortly.
Connected Learning Symposium 2024
- More information
Vital Cities and Citizens
With the Erasmus Initiative Vital Cities and Citizens (VCC) Erasmus University Rotterdam wants to help improve the quality of life in cities. In vital cities, the population can achieve their life goals through education, useful work and participation in public life. The vital city is a platform for creativity and diversity, a safe meeting place for different social groups. The researchers involved focus on one of the four sub-themes:
- Inclusive Cities and Diversity
- Resilient Cities and People
- Smart Cities and Communities
- Sustainable and Just Cities
VCC is a collaboration between Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB), Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC) and International Institute of Social Studies (ISS).