Changes in the Process
- I recruited less refugee collaborators than I had initially envisaged
- Two guest speakers couldn’t deliver their masterclasses due to illness, but their collaborators were able to go ahead on their own
- I used only 1 questionnaire (instead of 2), and refined the questions iteratively (thanks to feedback received at the group tutorials)
- I didn’t run a focus group, as I had already collected enough data (as agreed with my tutor)
Experimentation
- Variety of speakers and engagement methods
- Enhanced my flexibility, self-efficacy, resilience
Project’s Strengths
- Rich programme with informative sessions
- Ethical approach to the research, with space for listening
- Bridging diverse cultures and opening up opportunities for collaboration
Challenges
- Some refugee collaborators withdrew from the project due to personal issues
- Inequality between students (participating in this mandatory Unit) and refugees (volunteer collaborators)
- Putting collaborators on the spot using the refugee label
- Student disclosing sensible information about a refugee collaborator
- Dealing with heavy emotions, especially considering the on-going Gaza conflict in the background
- Room bookings in the new LCF campus
- Managing guests arriving at LCF at different times during the lectures
- Heavy workload for me
Time Management
- I conducted participant observations throughout the project
- Unfortunately, I started blogging quite late
Inspiration
- Transformative experience for students (as change-makers) and collaborators (as artists)
- Meaningful and powerful project outputs
Ideas for the Future
- Collaboration with Dr Malé Escalante on the Collaborative Unit for MA students at LCC, and potentially beyond
- Feeding into new international DESIS Cluster and elective unit at LCF
- Collaboration with LCF colleagues to contribute to embedding social purpose in the curriculum
- Feature in symposium (at LCF) and exhibition (at the Barbican) as part of the ‘Decolonising Fashion and Textiles’ research project
- Sharing teaching resources on a potential digital platform
- Future journal article publication
