In parallel with the global campaign “16 days of activism against gender-based violence”, as part of the UNIGEM (University and Gender Mainstreaming) project implemented by the TPO Foundation from Sarajevo, activities were held at the University of Rijeka which, in cooperation with teaching and professional staff and both male and female students marked the International Day against Violence Against Women and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The first activity included a visit to the Department of Pedagogy of the Faculty of Philosophy in Rijeka, where the members of the university group for the promotion of diversity and inclusive practices Daria Glavan Šćulac, B.Sc. of Law. and Sandra Nuždić, MPhil, gave an interactive lecture on unconscious bias (unconscious bias, implicit bias) to students in the 1st year of the graduate university study in Pedagogy, as part of the Higher Education Pedagogy course. The aim of the lecture was to familiarize the participants with the concept and consequences of unconscious biases as an obstacle to achieving equal action for individuals and organizations and to encourage them to overcome them, both in everyday life and in the performance of the profession of the pedagogue. The interactive lecture was also attended by the head of the course, prof. Ph.D. Jasminka Ledić, assistant in the course of Ph.D. Ivana Miočić and postdoctoral student Ph.D. sc. Bojana Vignjević Korotaj, which encouraged reflection on unconscious biases in the context of existing courses and study programs.
“In the course Higher Education Pedagogy, which is taught at the graduate study of pedagogy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Rijeka, there is an open space for presenting examples of good practice and opening new topics with a special emphasis on activities that the University of Rijeka contributes to the development of higher education. The topic contributed to the development of future skills and transferable skills, which are especially emphasized in the course,” said Prof. Ph.D. Jasminka Ledić highlighting the importance of this topic within a course.
The second activity took place at the Academy of Applied Arts of the University of Rijeka.
The modern media approach imposes that the image speaks a thousand languages and is dominant in determining the meanings that influence our actions. Students of APURI, in the courses Theory and practice of new media and Semiotics of images, were mentored by the assistant professor. Ph.D. Sanja Bojanić to focus on invisible disabilities and by that mark December 3rd, 2022, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. According to Prof. Sanja Bojanić, the visual game of representing everything that cannot be recognized with the naked eye intends to point out the intersection of gender and different forms of mental and physical ailments that prevent the easy and spontaneous performance of life processes.
“At the workshop, with guest Valeria Graziano, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Rijeka, we learned about various activities that connect Disability Studies and art and design. The created visuals of female and male students are the result of research, a game of recognition and empathy, in order to understand and accept the principles of diversity in the light of positive values that connect us in life and in the community,” concluded Prof. Bojanić.
The works of male and female students are available in the gallery.
These activities are part of the development of the institution’s portfolio of activities that sensitize to diversity and promote equality at the University of Rijeka and the wider community, and both activities are in accordance with the Gender Equality Plan of the University of Rijeka 2021-2025, and the YUFE Strategy for Diversity and Inclusion.
The UNIGEM regional project is financially supported by the United Kingdom Government in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is implemented by the TPO Foundation from Sarajevo in partnership with 19 universities in BiH, Montenegro, Croatia, and Serbia, including the University of Rijeka as an institutional partner.
