On 8 March, International Women's Day Sheila Sitalsing will present the Annie Romein-Verschoor lecture 'The Angry Woman' at the Academy Building. Referent is Aminata Cairo. The lecture will be in Dutch.

On 10 January the Executive Board proposed the outline of the new diversity, equal opportunities and inclusiveness plan. The new plan builds on the aims of the 2014-2016 working plan. The focus now is on making the plan more sustainable and embedding the current diversity policy within the organisation. This means more involvement and collaboration among all parts of the institution to make Leiden University more diverse and more inclusive than ever. The definitive working plan will shortly be available on the website.

A new buddy programme for master’s and research master’s students at the Faculty of Humanities is up and running! Already 60 new students have been connected with 13 buddies. The buddy steers the new student through his or her new study environment and is the first port of call for any questions. The Faculty’s aim with this programme is to give new students a warm welcome and make them feel part of the faculty community. There is also a Facebook page, as well as plans to continue the programme for students who start next year. For more information, please contact James Hewitt,  buddyprogramme@hum.leidenuniv.nl.

The Diversity Office offers Let’s Talk sessions at the Meeting Point every third Thursday of the month. Let’s Talk sessions are small gatherings where people from all parts of Leiden University, from staff to students, can gather to connect. The idea is that someone from the community will tell their story, after which there will be a guided discussion to engage with the story. You can also request a Let’s Talk session for your group. To schedule a Let’s Talk session, please contact Aminata Cairo, a.cairo@bb.leidenuniv.nl.

Every Thursday from 12.00-16.00 hrs, a Diversity Office staff member will be available for meetings at the Meeting Point. If you have questions or ideas about diversity or inclusion relating to yourself, your classroom activities or your organisation, feel free to discuss them. Please contact Aminata Cairo to make an appointment: a.cairo@bb.leidenuniv.nl.

With its very own Diversity think-tank the Institute, The Institute for History wants to give ‘diversity’ a prominent place on the agenda of the Institute. The starting point of the diversity policies to be developed is that everyone has to feel welcome at their workplace. The think-tank will compile information, bring the attention of the Institute towards specific issues and advise on the matter at stake. Colleagues who want to give suggestions and share their experience should be directed to diversityhist@hum.leidenuniv.nl.

Aminata Cairo (Diversity Office) and Ann Wilson (Leiden University College) are offering a community engagement/research course entiteld: Diversity in Action. In two projects seven young people learn how to apply fieldwork methods to engage practically with diversity and inclusion. In the first project they will collect stories of inclusion and exclusion from Leiden University campus members. These stories will be used to create a resource database that can be accessed for learning purposes and the development of training courses and presentations. In the second project, students will help produce a readers’ theatre performance of stories for children of the transgender community.