No Home For Hate 2017/18 - Overview

The "No Home For Hate" project was first delivered as a client-led brief in the Media department in academic year 2017/18 as part of the students' credit-bearing work.  The result was an array of outputs, ranging from advertising and marketing ideas, social media campaigns, merchandise designs and films.  This show reel, which has been screened at various higher education conferences, collates a range of films, covering topics such as online harassment, stalking, sexual harassment, microaggressions and the rise of hate incidents following Brexit.  



A client-led brief approach - how did we do it?
Stage 1 - Securing Funds
Building on an array of projects already underway as part of 'the Changing the Culture Initiative' (the university's response to universities UK's 2016 'Changing the Culture' Taskforce report), a collaborative successful HEFCE Catalyst-fund bid was put together by a "core group" of members of Student and Legal Affairs (SLA) and the Media department.

The successful bid allowed for funding to support a Project Manager and for an academic member of staff to coordinate activity within the Media department.

Stage 2 - Developing the Brief
It is an established practice within the Media department to give students briefs which either originate from real clients or simulate industry briefs.  In the 'No Home For Hate' project, David Malpas and Ben Serlin from Student & Legal Affairs acted as the clients and worked closely with Helen Bendon in the Media Department.

After an initial draft was put together, an initial call-out was communicated for interested module tutors.  Those module tutors then worked with Helen to rework the brief to ensure it fitted with learning outcomes and existing assessment frameworks.  This was important factor in getting buy-in from the academics, particularly as it resulted in the project work being effectively embedded in "business-as-usual" activity and, to put it bluntly, didn't require the module leaders to do any extra work.  In addition, Helen provided an important point of contact between the students and sources of additional input, such as members of the Safeguarding Board and the Students' Union.

The result of this consultation process was a brief that would allow for adaptation as well as commitment from module tutors to help make the project a success.  The brief was thus ready to be released formally to the students as a professional client-led brief.

Stage 3 - Introducing the Brief
Students were introduced to a client-led brief which proposed to students to produce media outputs which raised awareness of the importance of reporting hate crime, whilst also encouraging reporting to the university's centralised reporting system - Cause for Concern.  The brief also required students to explore aspects of interactionality.  There was a key focus on the students producing outputs "for the students, by the students".
Students were introduced to the brief at the beginning of January to coincide with the start of our second term and to allow the appropriate amount of time for work to be delivered in line with normal university deadlines (again, creating no additional work for the module tutors delivering the project).

The clients delivered briefing presentations which made use of current data on hate crime in the context of recent hate crime spikes as a result of Brexit and UK terrorist attacks.  Students were also introduced to the concept of intersectionality and there were references to wider issues, such as structural racism.  

Stage 4 - Guided Learning
Students were guided to learn about hate crime and its effect on individuals and the community.  Through various forms of input (seminars, workshops, formative and summative assessments), students explored the relationship between prejudice, intolerance, discrimination and hate crime.  This stage involved linking up with various sources of resource from around the University, such as the Students' Union, and with the local community and charities.  Our in-house academic expertise was on hand to guide students through research and empirical evidence (the importance of this was highlighted by the International Network for Hate Studies).
The students were encouraged to think clearly about audience and what language devices and strategies might be used to communicate their campaign messages most effectively.  Students explored how to frame the key elements in messaging and how to effectively target the right audience to achieve campaign goals.   

A key aim of the project was for students to explore their own attitudes, values and behaviours.  Empirical research, government reports and local data, for example, were used to help students gain an understanding of the prominence of hate crime, whilst connecting students to members of the Students' Union and the Liberation Societies provided an insight into the effect of prejudice and intolerance on the individual, community and University.  

Stage 5 - Active Response
Bringing together the educational and experiential learning from previous stages, students produced media outputs (e.g. films, animations, talking heads, campaign ideas, infographics, social media communications, posters, merchandise designs, events etc.).  There was a particular focus on delivering messages of culture change which reflected learning in the previous stage regarding "what works". 

The students presented their work at several points (a pitch and then a first draft) - such feedback from the project clients helped the students further develop their outputs but also served to enhance the student experience and encourage engagement.  

Stage 6 - Dissemination
The students work was used to convey messages to the wider student body and university staff during, for example, Welcome, Hate Crime Awareness Week, Black History Month, Holocaust Memorial Day.  Further work has brought the student project work to a wider audience, such as the development of a 'No Home For Hate' guidebook.

The films were displayed, for example, during Hate Crime Awareness Week and at a collaborative event with community partners, such as Mencap, Barnet Multifaith Forum, Barnet Council.  

Stage 7 - Showcasing
The client-led brief model foregrounds employability both in terms of process but also in terms of outputs.  The students work was presented at higher education national conferences and screened at subject-appropriate events.  Such presentations include at:
- AMOSSHE (the Student Services Organisation) Annual Conference, "Shaping Futures", 4-6 July 2018, with 80 attendees;
-Salford OneCPD, "Security in Education" Conference, 13 November 2018, with 250 attendees;
- Public Policy Exchange Symposium, "Tackling Sexual Harassment and Violence in Higher Education: Improving Reporting Systems and Supporting Survivors", 15 January 2019, with 38 attendees.

This showcasing resulted in further commissioning of work which, at the very least, has helped students build their creative portfolio.  These works include producing a film for the Met Police's Girls Allowed #Safe4Faith event; producing a film for the Violent Crime Prevention Board, led by Dr. Angela Herbert and Dr. Neville Lawrence, and; producing a short film as part of Barnet Council's "Snowdrop" project.  In addition, Universities UK have requested to show this show reel at their HQ in Woburn House, Central London, thus providing exposure to a wide variety of audiences across the higher education sector. 


Stage 8 - Archiving
The students' experience and activity has been captured through written accounts, photos, films and text.  This is documented here to ensure that learning remains accessible beyond the life of the project.

Impact - a truly powerful and innovative project
185 students participated across 7 modules in levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 - students from, for example, Advertising PR & Branding, Publishing, Digital Media.  Some were experienced filmmakers, others were first-time camera operators - all created incredibly powerful and creative messages.

The students considered their own relationship to the project.  Such reflections on one's own attitudes and values resulted in changes in behaviour, with notably more consideration around the issue of campaign advocacy.  For example, work from the BA Advertising Media and Branding students resulted in social media, events planning and merchandise which was used in collaboration with the Staff LGBT+ liberation group.

In terms of external evaluation, Middlesex University was selected to participate in evaluation conducted by AdvanceHE.

The projects were diverse and took different approaches to tackling the brief.  Some were straightforward information-giving (e.g. this what Cause for Concern does and how you can access it); others were more elaborate, focusing on specific elements of hate crime.

The project outputs have been visible and raised awareness of the university's Cause for Concern procedure.