The National Centre for Reconciliation, Truth, & Justice (NCRTJ) in partnership with the International Alliance of Working-Class Academics (AWCA) co-hosted the ‘Class, Race, Place: Exploring Intersectionality for Access to Higher Education Globally’ Conference on December 6th, 2024. The conference was run by Professor Emma-Jaye Gavin (AWCA, NCRTJ, Federation University) and Professor Steven Roberts (AWCA, Monash University). The event showcased research, practices, and experiences, of race, class, place, migration, and gender intersectionality, and its impact on access, support and success in higher education across the world. The conference featured two keynote lectures. The first by Professor Jay Phillips (Deputy Dean Indigenous Strategy, Monash University, Australia) on Truth-telling for colonial contexts: Intersectionality, silencing, and equitable access. The second by Gavin Brewis (SPIRU, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland) on the Intersections of class, identity, and institutional power within Glasgow’s education system. There was a panel discussion by the Alliance of Working-Class Academics (AWCA) on their Global Campaign to Abolish Class Discrimination. And a series of conference presentations by speakers from across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Scotland and England.
The Alliance of Working-Class Academics (AWCA) is an international collective of working-class academics. Their aims are to help academic colleagues overcome class-based barriers and to amass data on the economic, social, and cultural challenges facing working class academics. More information on the work of AWCA can be found here: https://www.workingclassacademics.com/news.