South Asian Women in Higher Education (SAWHE) - Many Stories, One Diaspora
About this Event
Every story of heritage, identity and belonging is different, yet there is power in coming together to share them.
THEME: Many Stories, One Diaspora
📅 Friday 11 September 2026
🕙 1:00 PM — 4:00 PM (Lunch and networking included)
📍 Maxwell Hall (Peel Park campus), University of Salford
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ABOUT THE EVENT
The South Asian Women in Higher Education (SAWHE) Network, in partnership with the University of Salford, invites you to Many Stories, One Diaspora, an afternoon of belonging, connection and reflection.
This event will bring together staff, students, allies and community members from universities across the UK to celebrate the richness, diversity and shared experiences of the South Asian diaspora.
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PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
🎤 Keynote Address:
Dr Pradeep Passi, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice and Equity), University of Salford.
Dr Passi provides strategic leadership in institutional efforts to embed social justice and equity across its domains of education, research, enterprise, and people. He also serves on Advance HE’s EDI Committee and co-chairs the Race Equality Charter Governance Committee, helping shape and oversee race equality frameworks across UK higher education.
💬 Panel speakers include:
• Professor Niroshini Nirmalan, Director of Human and Natural Sciences, University of Salford
• Saira Iqbal, Youth panel member, Biomedical Science Graduate and PhD student, University of Salford
• Sonal Patel, Director of Talent Attraction, University of Manchester
• Pooja Saini, Professor of Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention, Liverpool John Moores University
💃Bollywood Dance
• Akansha and Livia Pallam
🤝 Lunch and Networking
A dedicated networking and South Asian lunch.
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WHO IS THIS EVENT FOR?
This event is open to all South Asian heritage women working or studying in higher education in the UK, across all roles; academic, research, professional services, technical, leadership and students. We also warmly welcome allies to support us to champion diverse South Asian voices.
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REGISTRATION NOTES
Places are limited to 50 attendees. Registration is free.
To ensure your place goes to someone who will attend, please only register if you are genuinely able to come. If your plans change, please cancel your ticket so we can offer your place to someone on the waiting list, you can do this through your Eventbrite account at any time.
We will send a confirmation email with full event details a week or so before event.
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ACCESSIBILITY
If you have any accessibility requirements not covered in the registration form, please contact us at [email protected] and we will do everything we can to accommodate you.
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CATERING
Lunch is included in your registration. Please complete the dietary requirements section in the registration form when you sign up if there is anything you wish for us to consider.
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GETTING THERE
Travel information on how to get to the University of Salford can be found here.
• The closest car park to the Maxwell Hall is Peel Park (postcode: M5 4NT) which holds 42 spaces.
• Please note the car park across the Museum, Art Gallery and the entrance to Peel Building are not University car parks so please make sure you park in the correct area.
• If the Peel Car Park is full, the next closest is Irwell place car park (postcode: M5 4PE) and has 415 places.
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ABOUT SAWHE
South Asian Women in Higher Education (SAWHE) is a grassroots community-led network launched in May 2025. We now have over 300 members across 78 UK institutions. We run a podcast (SAWHESpeaks), a quarterly newsletter, a blog series (SAWHEVoices), and regular events (Over 20 delivered so far including SAWHE Power Events and SAWHE Researcher series).
Find out more at www.sawhe.org
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
