All Equality & Diversity courses

The Institute of Astronomy is hosting “Dignity and Respect at Work” workshops for ALL staff as part of the University wide E&D policy and training programme.

To be held in the Sackler Lecture Theatre in the Hoyle Building

Sackler Lecture Theatre in the Hoyle Building

How often do you find yourself on social media during the course of a normal week? More importantly, how does using social media make you feel?

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the ways in which we have used social media has changed, as well as how we feel about social media in general. Social media is a paradox. It connects us in some ways, while pushing us apart in other ways. Social media has become our source of information, and a valuable means of connecting with friends and family, while at the same time making us feel lonelier and disconnected.

In this talk, we will explore some of the research about social media, connection, loneliness – as well as looking at some ways that we might be able to helpful reframe our relationship social media in our everyday lives.

Tyler Shores is delighted to announce that he has secured two external speakers to join him next week.

Luke Fernandez is Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Weber State University where he teaches classes on the politics of technology and software development and Susan J. Mattwho is Professor of History at Weber State. They have both co-authors of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019).

Tyler Shores manages the ThinkLab research program at the University of Cambridge, and is a Senior Research Associate at the Intellectual Forum, Jesus College. His research focuses on digital habits, social media, and how digital environments shape how we work and think. Prior to Cambridge, Tyler worked in online education at Stanford, served as a director at an international education nonprofit organization, and worked at the Google world headquarters in Mountain View, California while running the Authors@Google program. His various work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC, WIRED, amongst others. And he was once on an episode of The Simpsons.

Luke Fernandez is Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Weber State University where he teaches classes on the politics of technology and software development. He is co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019). He holds a PhD in Political Theory from Cornell University. He is also a software developer. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Salon, Slate, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among other places.

Susan J. Matt is Professor of History at Weber State. Her research focuses on the history of emotions and US social history. She is co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter (Harvard University Press, 2019). She is author of Homesickness: An American History (Oxford University Press, 2011), and Keeping Up with the Joneses: Envy in American Consumer Society, 1890-1930 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003). Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Journal of American History.

Join Dr Jill Armstrong, Murray Edwards College, for this research-based workshop on how unintentional bias influences networking and career sponsorship and how to tackle this.

In this session Rachel Bailey, from the University SPACE network, gives personal insights from her experiences of supporting and caring for someone with mental health issues.

Yvonne McPartland, Deputy Head of the Staff Counselling Centre, will be leading a one hour live event to offer attendees the opportunity to understand how counselling can support personal resilience, especially in the current climate of fear and anxiety.

You will be have the opportunity to safely ask questions to Yvonne and other members of the Staff Counselling Centre team.

Details on how to join this session will be on your booking confirmation email.

During this event we will share what we know about the racial composition of the University and what staff and students have told us about their experiences.

We will present the institutional action plan to improve racial equality at Cambridge and will seek your feedback.

The Vice-Chancellor will also reflect on the University’s aspirations and the way forward towards a more inclusive University.

A light lunch will be provided from 12noon.

Remember when we used to live in precendented times? It seems like it was just yesteryear but it only feels that way because it was.

It has been a time for us to really remember the meaning of words and phrases, like how ‘just managing to stay afloat’ or ‘just keeping my head above the water’ are both overwhelmingly positive achievements (just consider what would happen if you didn’t!).

But living like this is exhausting in so many ways, so at this year’s Festival of Wellbeing, let’s think a bit about just being in this moment and being apart together.

Joining instructions will be provided on your booking confirmation email.

Love and the Law – An insider’s look at the legal battle for marriage equality in Australia

Following a few short introductions from the LGBT+ Staff Network Committee, we’ll be joined by Matthew Psycharis who will be talking about his first-hand experience in the legal fight for marriage equality in Australia.

We will then have the opportunity to meet each other informally over ZOOM to discuss the talk amongst other topics of interest.

In many of the world’s liberal democracies, we may now take for granted the simple proposition that two consenting adults, regardless of sex or gender, may be lawfully married. The recognition of marriage equality speaks to a more fundamental principle – that our law ought not to discriminate between persons on the basis of gender, sex or sexuality. And yet, until only a few years ago, Australia had outlawed same-sex marriage (‘SSM’). In 2016-2017 this became a bitter battleground, which, after stasis in Parliament, ultimately culminated in a High Court constitutional challenge and a legally-mired national plebiscite.

Matthew was one of the lawyers who advised the SSM campaigners, and who ran the court case challenging the lawfulness of the government’s stance. His legal team was comprised entirely of volunteers and was arrayed against the full resources of the Australian Government. In this Chatham House talk, he will describe how a strategy of marriage equality didn’t just mean marriage equality at all costs – in the eyes of the campaigners, it had to be done the right way. With dignity. And that meant a constitutional showdown with a government committed to dragging the question of legal equality through an ugly public vote. It also meant dealing with opposition from within the legal profession. It’s a story of how, when pursuing change, means can be just as important as ends.

Biography of speaker – Matthew Psycharis:

Matthew is a lawyer, originally from Australia. Before coming to Cambridge, he worked as a litigation lawyer at a leading Australian law firm. He advised on a wide range of disputes and regulatory investigations. In a pro bono capacity, he led a series of legal teams in high-profile constitutional disputes, involving human rights, LGBT+ rights, as well as advising NGOs on issues concerning offshore refugee detention and the drafting of anti-discrimination legislation. Matthew worked as an Associate (judicial assistant) to a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. And, before coming to the law, trained as an economist, working at the Department of Treasury and Finance. Now, Matthew is a second-year PhD researcher at the Cambridge Faculty of Law, researching the use and abuse of referendums and popular votes. He is also a Director of the Cambridge Pro Bono Project.

Pronouns: he/him/his

A curated LinkedIn Learning course, provided by the University of Cambridge's subscription to LinkedIn Learning.

The course can be accessed here.