This year’s Honorary Graduates’ Award for Inclusive Practice has been awarded to Lauren Christie, a tutor in both the School of Humanities and the Academic Skills Centre, and the CreateSpace Staff and Student Team from the Library and Learning Centre (LLC). The joint winners share a £1,000 practice development fund to further their work.
More information about the awards can be found on the Academic Skills Centre web page.
You can also read in detail about the winners below.
Lauren Christie, a tutor in both the School of Humanities and the Academic Skills Centre, was recognised for her work in the bibiotherapeutic use of children’s literature. This is a new initiative which aims to address escalating levels of mental health concerns by promoting open and honest discussion through the delivery of dedicated lessons in children’s literature. These lessons are conducted in the form of outreach workshops to local schools, and 10-credit modules and community classes for the University of Dundee.
Lauren says “Through focusing on this brand-new subject, it is my goal to help inspire passion and to help promote positive and honest discussion about mental health and literature. Furthermore, I strive to instil a sense of achievability to individuals that have faced discrimination or challenges surrounding their academic grades, time spent outwith education, mature students, visible or invisible disabilities and also those in areas of deprivation. All of the aforementioned challenges can have a negative impact on an individual’s mental health; it is my goal to address this through a format that all students have thus far been able to relate to and engage with.”
For more information on this initiative, contact Lauren Christie
The CreateSpace Staff and Student Team from the Library and Learning Centre was honoured for establishing this new facility in the LLC to help all students try something creative, learn a new skill or simply take a break from their academic work. As well as acknowledging the pedagogic aspects of creativity in the curriculum, the CreateSpace has become a place for students to share knowledge and think about new hobbies, and is therefore also focusing on student wellbeing.
One of the Staff Team, Scott McGregor says, “Allowing all students free access to the space during the library’s long opening hours has also meant that not only can students learn and share new skills, but they can also use the space to help with wellbeing, and balancing the academic work in their lives. Building on this sense of empowerment we have created a student team who help other students and have the advantage of being peers.”
The Staff Team consists of: Theresa Sandeman, Marie Durcan, Ed Delaney, and Shirley Harrison, Richard Parsons (LLC Director), Scott McGregor, Claire Pollock, and Shona Mason (School of Dentistry). The Student Team consists of: Desmond Manangazira, Ammara Irshad, Aimee Finlay, Renata Jeny, Ranya Al Ghazi, Elisabeth Taylor and Pilar Duque Paez.