Edinburgh Race Equality Network (EREN)

Welcome to EREN - a member-led network of racially minoritised staff and allies working to build anti-racist community and advance racial justice within the University of Edinburgh and higher education.

Our three key areas of activity

  1. Promote university-wide change
  2. Increase engagement with our network
  3. Develop ties with racially minoritized communities in Edinburgh.

Our Purpose

  1. To provide networking opportunities and hold regular discussion on race matters, enabling staff to come together to share information and support
  2. To provide a confidential environment to share experiences of working within the University to establish good practices in relation to race
  3. To enable the sharing of best practice, knowledge, ideas and thoughts on operational, research and academic work in relation to race.
  4. To raise the profile of racially minoritised staff within and beyond the University
  5. To work alongside the University to foster an inclusive environment and culture.

If you would like to join EREN, please contact us here:

RaceEqualityStaffNetwork@ed.ac.uk

Who can join?

Membership is open to any member of staff, including postgraduate research students, who support the values and purpose of the network. 

We aspire for a good balance of academic and support staff, at all grades, with representation of all genders and gender expressions, and different ethnic groups. 

As members of EREN we will:

  1. continue to welcome and bring together people from a wide range of backgrounds and experience, both close to home and across the globe.
  2. encourage and take care of one another and provide support in times of difficulty and celebrate every success.
  3. build relationships that are mutually beneficial, long lasting and constructive.
  4. value the contribution of every individual, regardless of whether they are students, staff, alumni or other contributors.
  5. support each other’s development and career progress.
  6. set an example for others by conducting ourselves with integrity, transparency, honesty and clarity at all times.
  7. always value and protect freedom of expression, while respecting the boundaries dictated by law, decency, ethics and respect for others.

EREN Events

Lead: Lena Lorenz

For details of all upcoming events, join our mailing list by contacting:

RaceEqualityStaffNetwork@ed.ac.uk

EREN Lunchtime Biography series

The EREN Lunchtime Biography Series highlights and celebrates the careers and achievements of our colleagues. Each session runs on Thursdays from 12:30 - 13:15 GMT.

Previous Lunchtime Biographies:

In spring 2021, we launched the EREN Lunchtime Biography series, a bi-monthly series of talks which highlight and celebrate the careers and achievements of our colleagues. The talks have been held over Teams on Thursdays. These events have become a regular feature of the EREN Events calendar and have featured speakers from academic and professional services staff.  The talks have been a welcome insightful, thought-provoking, lively and fun chance to get to know each other and share ideas and experiences. 

Speakers have included: Rowena Arshad, Sonia Afonso de Barros, Katucha Bento, Richard Chin, Gwenetta Curry, Omolabake Fakunle, Radhika Govinda, Jarita Holbrook, Daniel Kyereko, Nasar Meer, Aziz Sheikh, Shaira Vadasaria.

EREN Book Club

Lead: Chris Sena, Aidan Mosselson

The Book Club welcomes everyone interested in expanding their thinking about issues of race. Each informal book club session takes a book, chosen and introduced by an EREN member, that raises important questions about how to understand the racialised histories and frameworks within which we think and work. We meet roughly every six weeks and alternate between fiction and non-fiction books, occasionally authors of the books we discuss join us too. Past books have included: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala, Real Life by Brandon Taylor, It's Not About the Burqa edited by Mariam Khan, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo, Superior: The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini and Hostile Environment by Maya Goodfellow.

More details here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/book-club-275509

Help! We are currently looking for help with (co-)hosting the Book Club sessions. Please contact us if you are interested:

RaceEqualityStaffNetwork@ed.ac.uk

Other events

In the past, we have also organised events to mark Black History Month and LGBT+ History Month. Including:

  • Black History Walks with Lisa Williams: An encounter with Edinburgh's built heritage to illuminate the role of Scots in slavery and colonialism from a Caribbean perspective.
  • A Reggae Dialogue with Deanne Bell: A dialogue with selections from Bob Marley and The Wailers anti-racist oeuvre, decolonial theory, and how we understand racism. Poetry reading with Andrés N Ordorica – in collaboration with the Staff Pride Network
  • We organised a quiz and panel discussion about the Life in the UK as a migrant, which can be viewed online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDNaSgOkxsE

Help! If you have an idea for an event or collaboration, we’d love to hear from you, please contact us at:

RaceEqualityStaffNetwork@ed.ac.uk


Coming soon...


Coming soon...


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