/asset/Manifesto/760/CP_Poster_final-2.pdf
Hi! I'm Cornelia (she/her). As your Academic Affairs Officer, I will work to your advantage:
- a year's experience of being a PG Student Rep within the Politics Department and
- several years of work & volunteering in the academic, diplomatic and NGO sector (including mediation and facilitation).
Most importantly, I want to bring about clarity and change for us all in the following areas:
- SOAS must be a university first – a space for discourse. We do not have to accept that our academic concerns are turned into business discussions. If your learning opportunities are hindered, I will advocate for your interests, support your reps and stand firmly against the marketization of higher education.
- I will be a driver for tangible progress in academic decolonisation with concrete and transparent steps instead of rhetorical ones on processes in favour of diverse rather than Eurocentric curricula, issues around misrepresentation and use of colonial terminologies as well as a lack of inclusiveness in the academic field. Since I am aware of the limits of my own perspective on these issues as a white EU student, I understand myself as a further facilitator who needs to closely work with the officers, reps and groups that already represent these discourses.
- To bring about this progress, we need constant exchange and an officer to help you situate your specific concerns within the wider SOAS structures. Since I was missing this clarity as a Rep, I pledge to keep this overview for you and reach out to each Rep & campaign face-to-face, to understand and advocate for overarching issues on the school-wide agenda and provide additional SU support where you need it for department-specific issues.
- Solve ongoing problems flagged by fellow current reps, such as:
- Preventing the recurrence of this year's admin and communication chaos.
- Opposing the decline of academic support within the library due to restructuring.
- Give every student present Academic Advisors.
- Enhance democratic structures: Especially PG students are less involved in the SU due to little time but have specific academic concerns through which we can widen SU involvement.
Hope to change things for you, please come talk/write to me any time!
Cornelia
>> 667094@soas.ac.uk