Prof. Dr. Philomena Essed (Antioch University, USA) engaged in a conversation with Prof. Dr. Halleh Ghorashi from the Refugee Academy during yesterday’s ‘Doing Diversity’ symposium. The keynote was incredibly interesting and inspiring! The symposium centred around the thesis of Hannah Leyerzapf.

The thesis’s conclusion is that diversity is not so much about the other, but primarily about ourselves. The various panels made it clear that translating diversity into practical actions is not always straightforward.

Diversity often brings discomfort. This discomfort is not necessarily due to unwillingness or lack of knowledge, but rather connected to implicit rules and norms, such as what defines a competent professional.