Our new @RaISe_KESS programme is here!
The programme features eight seminars, jointly delivered by the @niassembly Research and Information Service (RaISe) and local universities.
Booking for the first seminar on the 22nd April is available now.
https://t.co/G2YsKSX2GQ
📢 Upcoming KESS Seminar with OU academics
Creative Learning to Affirm Diversity
Dr John Maiden, Dr Stefanie Sinclair & Prof John Wolffe
📍 Parliament Buildings, Stormont Estate, Belfast
📅22 April 2026
🕐 1.30pm
Set against a rapidly evolving policy context — including the proposed Race Equality Bill, reforms to 16–18 education, and the recent Supreme Court judgement on Religious Education in Northern Ireland — this seminar explores how education can respond to increasing diversity while reflecting cultural and historical traditions.
The team will present an innovative, evidence-based approach using collaborative filmmaking, where young people explore religious, cultural and ethnic diversity through creative production. Alongside deepening understanding of tolerance and peace, the approach builds practical skills in:
• teamwork and collaboration
• managing disagreement
• communication
• media literacy
Drawing on pilot work across Northern Ireland, the UK and Europe, the session will share evidence of impact from learners aged 12–early 20s, including 16–18 learners in shared education settings.
This is a valuable opportunity for policymakers, educators and practitioners to engage directly with research shaping the future of education in Northern Ireland.
👉 Register here: https://t.co/l3u1A6dp60
One of the best things I have seen in sport in a long long time. He did it the hard way, but Rory McIlroy wins the US Masters and becomes the first European golfer to complete the career grand slam of majors. Extraordinary achievement. ⛳️
"Consilience" is the idea that all knowledge should eventually interlock, producing a unified understanding of reality. Below is a network showing this unity, as measured by co-citations.
It appears the humanities never received this memo, and have now reached escape velocity!
In 2007, as an exchange student from N. Ireland, I had the profound privilege of briefly meeting President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter at their home church in Plains, GA, USA. My brief goodbye ⬇. What an excellent human.
https://t.co/ORLMlWMMOJ