On 27 February the Black Intellectuals Society, in collaboration with the Graduate and Researcher College, hosted an inspiring and thought-provoking panel discussion on the experiences of Black PhD students and academics. This inspiring event brought together an incredible group of speakers who shared their personal journeys, the challenges they’ve faced, and the insights they’ve gained while navigating the world of academia as Black researchers.

We had a pleasure to hear from 5 speakers:

“The Weighted Waiting Game; Application process” – Wayne Mitchell

“Ignorance is not bliss: what every potential Black PhD science student needs to know” – Jason Amartey

“Challenging Institutional Discrimination” – Hannah Akalu

“The Importance of Black Support Networks” – William Ackah

“Navigating academia post PhD” – Barbara Adewumi

Attendees had the chance to engage with the panel through a lively Q&A session, the discussion was rich with meaningful conversations.

It was an incredibly insightful and inspiring evening. Attendees, including myself, resonated with a lot of what was shared and felt inspired to pursue studying a PhD.

Esther Adebiyi

This event offered invaluable perspectives and inspiration and we are grateful to everyone who joined us and contributed to making this event such a success.

Last week the GRC held the second Exploring Global Cultures PG Talk this academic year which is an inspiring event where we celebrate diversity here at Kent.

This time we had 3 wonderful presenters that took us on a journey to visit Nigeria, Turkey and the United States from the perspective of a Bengali-American.

I enjoyed presenting and sharing my culture with others. It is also really cool learning about other people’s cultures. Although different cultures have differences, there is always a shared love for appreciating other cultures.

Sreejita Ghose

Each presenter showed us how beautiful and diverse our world is and how we should appreciate our differences and value what we have in common.

Upon seeing the email about presenting about your country at a PG talk, I was immediately conflicted. Part of me wanted to jump at the opportunity, as I viewed it as a way to push myself out of my comfort zone and improve my public speaking skills. The other part of me didn’t think I was qualified enough to present about Nigeria, as I was raised in the UK and had only visited Nigeria once. Despite being ethnically Nigerian, I knew little about the country other than what my parents told me. I’ve struggled with feeling ‘Nigerian enough’ for years, especially with me not speaking my native language (Igbo). I was scared I would be judged by Nigerian audience members in the crowd, who could actually call Nigeria their homeland. Despite these fears and uncertainties, I felt pulled to volunteer. My parents, although surprised, encouraged me. I researched hard, wanting to ensure I was presenting only accurate information, and spent hours deciding the correct design. In the end, to the glory of Jesus, the presentation came together. On the day to present, I was surprisingly nervous beyond belief. Would I speak too fast? Would I mispronounce things? Praying about these fears did calm me down, but the stress persisted. I really wanted to make my family proud and represent Nigeria correctly. When I think back to presenting, it is a blur. Everything went slow yet amazingly fast at the same time. The moments that stand out to me is the aftermath – when I received applause and was told by someone who was in the audience ‘thank you for representing Nigeria’. That’s when I knew I had done my country proud.

Chidubem Obosi

It’s been a wonderful experience to have such beautiful presentations where we could see the love and admiration for your home countries and the fascinating impact they have on your life. It is truly a privilege for us to host this fantastic event that serves us as a reminder that our world is a great place where we can admire and celebrate each other’s backgrounds and cultures.