Teaching in the team
All members of the RIELA team are involved in educational activities in various ways. Below is an overview of the teaching done by each team member, as well as a link to our MOOC, which went online in January 2025. If you would like us to deliver a guest lecture for your team or students, please email us on unesco-riela@glasgow.ac.uk.
Alison Phipps' teaching
Alison supervises an average of 10 PhD students at any given time. She also presents an annual UNESCO RIELA lecture, open to all, typically at the UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating, which takes place in May.
Below is a selection of her teaching activities. Upcoming ones will be published on our events page.
2025-ongoing: Lead educator on our MOOC Working With Cultural Data: A Creative Approach - a free 3-week course, see more information about this further down on this page.
11 December 2024: Workshop titled 'Supporting Post-conflict Reconstruction of Higher Education in Gaza', with Omar Shweiki at the Reconstructing Gaza Conference at the University of Glasgow.
21 November 2024: L ecture titled 'Call and No Response: The impact of international conflict on refugee communities in Scotland/UK' at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum Auditorium, New Zealand, hosted by the University of Otago's Centre for Global Migrations and Toitū.
18 November 2024: Workshop on the topic of 'Sustaining ethical commitments at the research/activism interface' at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
14 November 2024: Lecture titled 'Lumpy Crossings: Researching ethically in unethical times' at the Centre for Global Migrations at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
31 October 2024: Keynote Healthy Societies lecture titled 'Restorative, Intercultural, Trauma-Sensitive: Schizmogenesis and the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy' at the University of Sydney's Centre for Healthy Societies.
17 October 2024: Sir Run Run Shaw lecture titled 'Enabling Environments, Fugitive Spaces, and Restorative Practices for Intercultural Dialogue and Linguistic Justice' at the MIC Symposium 2024 - Multiple Perspectives on Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication at Stony Brook University, New York.
21 February 2024: Jour Fixe - Art in Conflict. Organised by Centre for Art and Peacebuilding in Zürich. Alison Phipps and Tawona Ganyamatopé Sitholé explored the keynote as a form of performative poetry.
24 April 2023: Distinguished speaker 2023 at the University of Leeds, with her talk Languaged in Place: People; Pēpēhā and the resources of Peace
20 June 2023: Restorative Integration through Languages and Arts, presentation at the Royal Society of Edinburgh as part of Refugee Festival Scotland.
12 December 2022: Lecture for the Open University's Distinguished Speaker Series: Professor Alison Phipps on the Languages of Crises
24 November 2020: Public lecture “Why Integration is a Delicate Art that needs everyone’s Languages”, part of the Postgraduate Researcher-led Seminar Series: Decolonising Forced Migration: Political (Un)-Intelligibility, Reflexivity, & ‘Epistemological Agency’. Watch event recording online at the Decolonising Forced Migration YouTube channel
30 October 2020: African Studies Global Virtual Forum at PennState College of the Liberal Arts. Alison Phipps and Piki Diamond speak on "Decolonizing Multilingualism".
27 October 2020: Peace-making in a world of conflict, part of SCCR International Conference 2020: 'Connections & Bridging The Divide'. Event Recording available here.
22 July 2019: Public lecture "Decolonising Multilingualism: What happens to emotions when English taks a step back?" as part of the Political Emotions Conference at the University of Adelaide
23 May 2018: Lecture at the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, entitled Hospitality - Lessons from Refugees
Hyab Yohannes' teaching
Hyab regular holds guest lectures for courses in education at the University of Glasgow. Here is an overview of his teaching activity since he joined the team.
2025-ongoing: Lead educator on our MOOC Working With Cultural Data: A Creative Approach - a free 3-week course, see more information about this further down on this page.
2025: Guest lecture in the Practise and Research Community (PaRC) course on the MSc Education for Sustainable Futures in Adult, Community and Youth Contexts programme.
2024-ongoing: co-supervision of students of the ERASMUS Mundus Masters programme Education in Museums & Heritage (EDUMaH).
2023-ongoing: Regular guest lectures on the course Local and Global Theories and Perspectives on Learning in Diverse Contexts (EDUC51007), which is part of the MSc Education for Sustainable Futures in Adult, Community & Youth Contexts.
2022-2024: Guest lecture on decolonising adult education in the International Issues In Adult And Continuing Education (EDUC5409) course, which is part of Educational Studies (MSc) and (MEd).
Tawona Sitholé's teaching
Tawona is a natural educator with many years' experience teaching children and adults. Here is a list of some of his current teaching activities.
2025-ongoing: Lead educator on our MOOC Working With Cultural Data: A Creative Approach - a free 3-week course, see more information about this further down on this page.
2024: Guest lecture in the Practise and Research Community (PaRC) course on the MSc Education for Sustainable Futures in Adult, Community and Youth Contexts programme.
2022-ongoing: Co-supervision of students on the ERASMUS Mundus Masters course Education in Museums & Heritage (EDUMaH)
2022-ongoing: Regular guest lecture on the course Approaches to Inclusive Learning: Psychology, Knowledge and Curriculum (EDUC51008), part of the MSc Education for Sustainable Futures in Adult, Community & Youth Contexts.
2021-ongoing: Regular guest lecture on the course Access and Inclusion (EDUC5903), part of the postgraduate taught MSc in Museum Education.
2020-ongoing: Guest lectures in the course Community Arts & Media (EDUC4113), part of the Adult Learning, Community Development & Youth Work Practice (MEd/PgDip) programme.
2012-ongoing: Creative Practice and Communication classes for undergraduate students in General Practice and Primary Care, in the School of Health and Wellbeing.
2017-2021: Regular guest lectures on the Zimbabwean cultural practice of dare in the Faiths, Philosophies and Contemporary Culture course, part of the MA Religious and Philosophical Education programme.
Bella Hoogeveen's teaching
2025-ongoing: Educator on our MOOC Working With Cultural Data: A Creative Approach - a free 3-week course, see more information about this further down on this page.
2015-ongoing: Bella teaches Dutch language classes, both to groups and to individuals, in person and online.
Massive Online Open Course (MOOC)
The UNESCO RIELA team have developed a free 3-week MOOC, available on the FutureLearn platform:
Click here to go straight to the course
Diversify your research methods for creative arts and migration studies.
On this three-week course, you’ll explore the compelling intersection between creative arts and migration studies, uncovering new perspectives on global migration patterns. With the guidance of the UNESCO RIELA team at the University of Glasgow, you’ll engage with pioneering research and artistic methodologies that illuminate the multifaceted experiences of migrants.
Discover artistic methodologies in migration studies
This course aims to emphasise the critical role of creativity in research, allowing you to approach migration studies from a unique angle. You’ll engage with various artistic mediums such as poetry and visual arts to enhance your ability to communicate research findings in accessible and emotionally resonant ways.
Interpret data through a creative lens
You’ll learn to view data through a creative lens, unlocking the potential to tell compelling stories and highlight diverse perspectives. This segment encourages you to think outside the box and apply innovative thinking to data interpretation, preparing you for the creative challenge of turning data into art.
Guide your artistic and academic transformation
This final segment consolidates your learning, offering a structured pathway to apply the course’s teachings to your research projects. Embrace the challenge of transforming data into art, enriching your research with creativity and interdisciplinary innovation. By the end of this course section, you’ll be armed with questions and strategies to guide your approach to turning data and experiences into art.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for students, academics, artists, journalists and others working with cultural data. Perfect for those who are looking for alternatives to measurement-heavy ways of working with data, who are looking for more nuanced approaches and who are open to trying new ways of working.