“If you think of culture always as a return to roots — ROOTS — youʼre missing the point.

I think of culture as routes — ROUTES — the various routes by which people travel, culture travels, culture moves, culture develops, culture changes, cultures migrate, etc.ˮ

– Stuart Hall: “Culture is always a translation”

I wanted to highlight a hero project that addresses Diversity & Inclusion within the UAL curriculum i became aware of through Gabrielle Miller’s presentation at the FACE summit 2024.

In 2023 the co-creation of a workshop focused on what was identified as an urgent need for a debiasing approach at UAL. The concept was to develop a stand alone workshop that could be embedded in any course. It was co-developed by Gabrielle Miller, Fashion and Sustainability Design Lecturer and Lead for School of Design & Technology. And Adam Ramejkis, Student Engagement Lead, Intercultural Communication at UAL. It was also supported by the work of Carole Morris, Head of Social Purpose in the Curriculum, LCF, Kemi Ajose and Zarifah Ahmad Zamri, Roots & Routes support facilitators and graduates from UAL.

Roots & Routes is a 3 hour ‘thinking through makingʼ zine workshop that explores how issues of Climate, Racial and Social Justice intersect to address structural inequalities.

• –  Critical conversations & examples
• –  Self-reflection, thinking & sharing
• –  Zine-making & mind-mapping

The key characteristics or learning outcomes desired are as follows.

• –  Practice being self-aware, reflecting on the world around us, our own biases and positionality
• –  Recognize and responding to the roots of the room and the context of the time
• –  Bring to the fore urgent topics such as histories of racism, class, and colonialism

The workshop takes a decentred approach by:

• –  Acknowledge multiple ways of knowing, and the value of difference
• –  Non hierarchical approach – students and staff are learner and educators
• –  Students voices are central to the discussion and direction

Going Forward

I was really inspired by the concept of creating a workshop of this nature that could be embedded into any course. I have added this concept to my plan for my A.R.P workshops. I’ve also reached out and spoken to Gabrielle a number of times about her experience delivering the workshop. We ( Gabrelle Miller supported by myself) plan to deliver Roots & Routes to Year 2 BA Textile Design students at Chelsea this upcoming summer term within there Unit 8 project.

Bibliography

Stuart Hall ‘Culture is Always a translation’ https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-71/culture-always-translation#axzz8xyp6BXz5

@rootsandroutes.ual