Intersectionality session as a pre-pilot workshop session with students Jagiellonian University

Our teammates Dr Justyna Struzik, Dr Katarzyna Jasikowska, and the Active Sociology Section from Jagiellonian University organized a session where they introduced the project to students from different disciplines and diverse backgrounds while discussing the many intersectional approaches to discrimination within academia, research and professional life. In addition, students proposed definitions of intersectionality while discussing inclusion and exclusion dynamics at play within the university environment. The meeting aimed to kick off work with students as part of the InterHEd project since the Jagiellonian University team will be implementing some student workshops with the pedagogical materials we are currently developing throughout the next academic year. Moreover, this session with students was particularly special because it took place in the student dormitory “Kamionka“, where students have organized against the current housing crisis that so often leads to higher education dropouts and precarious living conditions for them by occupying the building. Within the interHEd project, we seek to raise awareness not only of how experiences of inequality intersect in the classroom but also of the consequences that such intersections can have, from the rising dropping-out rates to the worsening of mental health among students.