About the project:

This research project explored students’ experiences and understanding of race and privilege at the University of Edinburgh through dialogical interracial culture circles. These small group discussions created a space to reflect critically, share experiences, and engage in meaningful dialogue across racial and cultural differences.

We met with 12 participants for eight sessions over March to May 2025. Each session was for 2 hours. Through these sessions, we wanted to create a space where students could be vocal about their racial experiences in the University, reflect on them and dialogue with one another in a group, and support one another through their processes. We also wanted to note if being a part of this project would have any impact on the students in terms of any change in perspective or action (and perhaps us too).

What were our aims?

We had the following aims guiding our work:

  • To understand the impact of racialised social structures and dynamics on students’ learning experiences in the University.
  • To understand students’ perspectives on what would facilitate meaningful and satisfactory engagement with diversity in teaching and learning contexts in the UoE.
  • To evaluate the impact of the methodology of dialogical interracial culture circles in fostering students’ critical understanding of their socially situated learning experiences and capacity to engage with diversity.
  • To assess the feasibility and impact of the continuation and broader provision of dialogical interracial culture circles for UoE students.

What are dialogical interracial culture circles?

Culture circles are a participatory educational and research methodology developed by the educator Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire observed that low literacy rates in Latin America were not simply a result of individual ability but were tied to an education system that failed to connect with learners’ lived experiences. Traditional curricula often feel disconnected from the realities of marginalised communities, making learning feel abstract and disempowering.

In response, Freire developed culture circles—spaces where learning is rooted in dialogue and collective reflection. Instead of treating students as passive recipients of knowledge, culture circles position them as co-investigators, drawing on their own experiences to critically examine social and political structures. Participants analyse their realities, uncovering how systems of power shape their lives while developing critical consciousness and the ability to challenge inequalities.

In this project, we adapted culture circles to move beyond conventional diversity training and to create a space where students could engage with race, identity, and learning in ways that felt personally meaningful. To know more about this methodology and get a sense of what each session looked like, please refer to our Guide to Culture Circles.

Why did we do this project?

Conversations about race at the university can sometimes feel performative, surface-level, or even invalidating. Too often, these discussions fail to acknowledge the deeper racial dynamics that shape everyday experiences on campus. This project seeks to name, acknowledge, and engage with these dynamics in a way that fosters genuine reflection and understanding.

Additionally, conversations about race are often confined to people of colour, placing the burden of discussion and explanation on those who directly experience racial inequality. However, racial dynamics are inherently relational—they shape and are shaped by everyone, regardless of racial identity. Through this project, we aimed to create a space where students of all backgrounds can critically engage with these dynamics together, moving beyond individual experiences to collectively explore how race and inequality shape learning at the university. Through this, we aimed to study the efficacy and impact of such an approach to learning and education.

What did participation involve?

Participants were invited to share their experiences of learning and interaction at the university, reflect on emerging themes, and explore how their experiences connect to broader social and political structures. To support this, we used creative and experiential activities such as visual mapping of personal and intergenerational identities, intentional dialogue, and photo voice to document and reflect on experiences through photography.

In line with Freirean methodology, participants not only engaged in discussions but also played an active role in analysing and shaping the direction of the conversations. ‘Theory-cards’ were provided for the participants to deepen and challenge their understandings. This process allowed participants to critically reflect on their experiences, draw connections between personal narratives and broader social structures, and contribute to the collective analysis of racial dynamics in university spaces through dialogue with one another.

Who are we?

We are a team of three from the School of Health in Social Science: Dr Karen Serra Undurraga (Lecturer), Dr Candela Sanchez (Teaching Fellow), and Mridula Sridhar (PhD student, Tutor, and Research Assistant). We have come together through our shared commitment to exploring race, coloniality, and relationality in higher education. Recognising the gap between conversations about race and meaningful action, we wanted to cultivate spaces where students could come together to grapple with the complexities of race and relationality, and envision new ways of learning, deep reflection, dialogue, and action in the university.

While we had an initial outline for the project, the experiences, voices, and active participation of the 12 student co-investigators were crucial in shaping the direction of the project. Together, we carried out reflexive thematic analyses, ensuring that students were active co-investigators in the project, influencing interpretations and outcomes, rather than remaining participants alone. This approach ensured they had a meaningful say in how the data was understood and represented, rather than having it only interpreted for them.