Blog Post 2: Faith 

In the UK, the educational calendar is catered towards the Christian Calendar, with timetabled breaks coinciding with events such as Easter and Christmas. According to the 2021 census, 46% of the UK population identified as Christian (Zayed, 2024), compared to only 9-15% of students studying at UAL, according to Student data from the 2022-2023 academic year (UAL, 2022). “The religion question is voluntary; 94.0% (56.0 million) of usual residents answered the question in 2021, an increase from 92.9% (52.1 million) in 2011” (Roskam,2022).  However, in the UAL student data, the number of students who choose not to disclose their religion has increased. 

The contrast between the UK population and students studying at UAL coincides with the fact that in 2017, “students who reported no religion and Muslim students made up larger proportions of younger students and smaller proportions of students aged 36 and over. The converse was true for Christian students.” (Mcmaster, 2020) Does this suggest that the structure of term times in the UK is less appropriate for students in HE or at least at UAL? 

At UAL, less Academic Staff reveal their religion than those that work in Professional and Administrative roles. There is no conclusive evidence as to why, but possibilities are a stigma in disclosing religious beliefs in those roles or that fewer ‘religious’ staff are applying and hired for these job roles. Reki (Reki, 2023) explains that those who disclose their religious views risk being perceived as a fundamentalist and therefore make people uncomfortable. Similarly, ethical harm can be caused to the person if they decide against revealing their religion or belief, as well as losing out on contributing to social knowledge-building. Without religious subjects in these positions, religious stereotypes are not dismantled and there remains a lack of visibility for students or peers with the same beliefs. 

Reflecting on Kwame’s talk, ‘Is Religion Good or Bad?’, and his talk about how Atheist views exist within all religions, it’s become clearer to me how privileged I am as an Atheist who was raised Christian. For example, I am still able to participate in Christian holidays without impact on my work or education. However, the same is not available for those that do not practice Christianity as they must plan their time accordingly for studying whilst balancing attending events regarding their own or their family’s faith, which may impact their sense of identity and wellbeing. As someone who is neurodivergent and struggles organizing my time, this additional responsibility feels like a barrier that would heavily affect neurodiverse students from faiths outside of Christianity. Students with disabilities, who are afforded an ISA, would still be disadvantaged as they may need to account time for religious events.




As outlined in my Intervention plan, I want to include examples of techniques and processes in my teaching and the workshop that come from a range of backgrounds. “A greater range of perspectives in the curriculum must be considered so that students are not exclusively digesting Eurocentric content. Instead, the curriculum should reflect the experiences of a diverse range of students, allowing minority students to see themselves as legitimate creators of knowledge (McIlwaine and Bunge in KCL, 2019).”  I would also like to reimplement a stitch notice board with information regarding Stitch related events taking place in London, reflecting the diverse number of communities, religions, faiths, nationalities and ethnicities of the students.

Most of our workshops and inductions are 3 hours long and we don’t currently give students time to break. Due to the level of sustained concentration needed to operate the machinery safely, a rest would be beneficial for all students. I think implementing a 20-minute break would be beneficial to both those who would like to observe prayer and neurodivergent students. Whilst it isn’t always possible to avoid timetable clashes, I think it’s important that we allocate time that can be used for prayer as ‘only one in 10 students believed that their institution avoided scheduling classes and exams during prayer times’ (NUS, 2018:17). Going forward, I aim to use the knowledge of religious holidays, where appropriate, to influence changes concerning timetable clashes to mitigate students missing out on technical learning, as well as allocated break times. 

Something I would also like to refer to relating to prayer but is not necessarily within the remit of my role, is the fact that there is only one quiet space at UAL Chelsea. The space is small and is used for both multi-faith and wellbeing purposes, which could mean accessibility is an issue. It is not clearly signposted, and you need a door code to access it, despite this not being clearly described. These issues may act as barriers in terms of staff and students feeling confident enough to practice their faith at work or while studying onsite. In an Advance HE podcast by Maisha Islam guest Dr Arif Mahmud recalls “the prayer room at his university being one of the first places he wanted to get acquainted with” (Mahmud in Islam, 2021)  and host of the podcast, Maisha Islam explains her research highlighted that “simply having a prayer room made Muslim students feel like they belonged on campus” (Islam, 2021) She also highlights in a WonkHE blog post that  “we must see prayer rooms and wider faith provisions as directly related to religious students’ mental health and wellbeing.” (Islam in WonkHE, 2020)

“Muslim women who veil are more fearful of anti-Muslim discrimination on campus than those who do not, as they are visibly Muslim (NUS, 2018). Of all anti-Muslim hate crimes recorded in 2017, 62 per cent of individuals were wearing Islamic clothing such as the hijab (veil covering the head) or the burka (full-body veil)” (TellMAMA in Shaffait, 2019). Most students studying on the Textile Design course are women. Are students who identify as Muslim less inclined to wear a hijab due to feeling not accepted in society. 

References: 

Appiah, K. A. (2014) Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question). Youtube [Online]. 16 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2et2KO8gcY (Accessed: 15/06/2024).

Edinburgh Law School (2020) Epistemic Injustice. 15 September. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB2QuLx9pMQ (Accessed: 18/06/2024).

Islam, M, Advance HE (2021) Building Belonging. 8 December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyd1sTiDNF0 (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

Islam, M. (2020) ‘The forgotten place of faith in university space’, Wonke, 9 October. Available at: https://wonkhe.com/blogs-sus/the-forgotten-place-of-faith-in-university-space/ (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

 Mcmaster, N. C, Advance HE (2020) Research Insight: Religion and Belief in UK Higher Education. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/research-insight-religion-and-belief-uk-higher-education (Accessed: 18/06/2024).

NHS Muslim Network (2021) Islamic Prayers: Guidance for NHS staff and managers.  Available at: https://nhsmuslimnetwork.co.uk/prayer-time-guidance (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

O’Brien, J, University of the Arts London (2023) Using Quiet Spaces at UAL. Available at: https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/News/238648/using-quiet-spaces-at-ual (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

Reki, J. (2023) Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Account. Hypatia 38, pp779–800. Available at: Moodle (Accessed: 18/06/2024).

Roskams, M. (2022) Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021 (Accessed: 18/06/2024).

Shaffait, H, King’s College London (2019) Inclusivity at University: Muslim student experiences. Available at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/geography/assets/kcl-sspp-muslim-policy-report-digital-aw.pdf (Accessed: 19/06/2024).

University of the Arts London (2024) Religious and cultural observances clash diary. Available at: https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/193365/religious-and-cultural-observances-clash-diary Accessed: 19/06/2024).

University of the Arts London (2022) UAL Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2021/2022. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/?a=389423 (Accessed: 17/06/2024).
Zayed, Y. (2024) Constituency Data: Religion. Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-religion/#:~:text=Across%20England%20and%20Wales%2C%2046,constituencies%20in%20England%20and%20Wales (Accessed: 17/06/2024).