Upcoming Events:
Shedding Light
A new permanent display at the Ashmolean Museum
Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PH
Open now
Through the creation of a 1950-60s Caribbean living room – a powerful symbol of British Caribbean heritage, resilience and identity – Shedding Light reveals the intertwined histories of colonialism, enslavement, sugar production and ceramics. This new display within the European Ceramics Gallery is the outcome of a collaboration, bringing together a group of Oxford-based producers with artists, project consultants and a Museum team.
Find out more about the project
Black History Month Lecture: Trust, Performance and the Future of Public Service with Dr Alison Heydari
31 October 2025, 9:30am to 11:30am (tea and coffee from 9:30am, lecture begins at 10am)
Lecture Theatre, Nuffield College
Alison Heydari was appointed as Director for the Police Race Action Plan in 2023, which sees her driving a national change programme necessary to address critically low levels of trust and confidence in Black communities and improve operational effectiveness. Her varied career as a detective and in uniform roles include Public Protection, geographic commander and emergency response commander. Alison has managed impactive community issues, driven the strategic response to hate crime, harmful practices and improving victim care, and was a crisis Negotiator for eight years. Her policing imperative is to utilise the tenets of Procedural Justice to cocreate solutions to community problems, build legitimacy and stakeholder trust, reduce harm to communities and meet the need for greater equity in criminal justice outcomes.
Find out more and register
Equali-tea
4 November, 11am to 12 noon
Institute of Developmental and Regenerative, Medicine (IDRM), Old Road Campus, Headington
Join Chief Diversity Officer Tim Soutphommasane and members of the Equality and Diversity Unit for tea, coffee, a biscuit and a chat at this informal drop-in event.
The Equali-tea is a great opportunity to hear updates from Tim on our current EDI work and to meet colleagues, students, and members of the Equality and Diversity Unit. The event is kindly being hosted by staff at the IDRM and we are delighted that Iris Hofmann, Head of Operations at the IDRM, is able to join us to share some of the EDI activities taking place there.
If you have any questions about the event, please contact us at equality@admin.ox.ac.uk
The informal session is open to all staff and students; no need to book
Black History Month - In Conversation with Jade Bentil
Doctorow Hall, St Edmund Hall
4 November 2025, 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Everyone is welcome for an evening with Jade Bentil, Black feminist and writer, as she explores the rich and complex histories of Black women who migrated to Britain in the second half of the twentieth century.
In her talk, 'Cartographies of Desire: Mapping Black Women’s Self-Making in Twentieth-Century Britain', Jade will discuss her ongoing oral history project, which examines how these women navigated the intersecting forces of race, gender, sexuality, class, and empire—while building lives filled with friendship, romance, and joy.
This event promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of memory, identity, and belonging, offering new insights into Black British women’s lived experiences.
No need to register
Supporting Neurodivergent Staff in the Workplace
13 November 2025, 11am to 12.30pm
Online
In collaboration with The Confident Manager (TCM) series, Jordelle Akinola, Staff Disability and EDI Advisor, invites colleagues to join the TCM webinar: Supporting Neurodivergent Staff in the Workplace
The webinar provides an overview of neurodiversity and how to support neurodivergent staff in the workplace. Topics include:
- The concept of neurodiversity and common types of neurodivergence;
- Support and workplace adjustments; and
- The models of disability in workplace practices and taking a strengths-based skills approach.
Please contact Jordelle if you have any questions about the webinar at jordelle.akinola@admin.ox.ac.uk
Find out more and book your place
Subscribe to the EDI Bulletin
Calendar of EDI dates 2025/26
You may find this list of awareness days and weeks useful in timing events and communications activities.
The University of Oxford is a diverse community, with people from many religious and cultural backgrounds. While this calendar is intended as a starting point, we recognise that many other dates are significant to individuals and communities.
If we have missed an important date or got something wrong, please let us know.
Please note, some dates are observed at different times across the world. The dates below are the dates observed by communities in the UK.
Key
* begin at sunset
** begins with the sighting of the moon
