Ingerlise Allgaard

"With my background in the arts and activism, Goldsmiths provided a breathing space for me to combine the two in a university setting. This instantly made me feel accepted and welcomed. Other academic institutions have tried to force me into a distinct role where activism couldn't necessarily be combined with the arts and vice-versa. My lecturers Kiran Grewal and Kate Nash encouraged this combination.  They both challenged the conventional understanding and perception of what human rights entails, what they mean, and how to engage with them creatively and unconventionally. Our lecturers encouraged creative thinking and emphasised how it is through the appearance of human rights in local contexts that brings it meaning and that activism involving artistic actions can advance and mediate human rights in wider and more influential ways.

This process of non-exclusion was appealing because it encourages new expressions of what human rights can achieve when alliancing with the arts for example. In filmmaking, I constantly try to bring together various fields, genres, art forms and expressions instead of dividing them. This brings new dynamics and tensions to life, something the old book of teaching human rights could make use of, in order to explore where it can take new generations of activism.

The most significant experience was meeting my peers people from all over the world - all carrying so much knowledge and positive energy. This made the course feel very inclusive, diverse and accepting a space where everyone was invited to share stories, beliefs and experiences.

I enjoyed that the lecturers had all been outside in the real world and they brought their experiences and knowledge into the academic sphere with a roughness that made it very real and practically significant."