Education update following Eugenics Inquiry Report and how to get involved

Within the report, a series of Education Recommendations were set out. To take these forwards, a small project team has been established within the Arena Centre.  

Meet the team 

The team will work with the UCL community to develop the teaching provision our history and critical analysis of eugenics.  

Helen Knowler – Associate Professor (Teaching)

Helen joined UCL as Associate Professor (Teaching) in September 2022. Helen has worked in the field of Special and Inclusive Education for over thirty years and has published most recently on exclusionary experiences in education and the challenges of illegal exclusion from schools for learners and their families. She previously held posts at the universities of Plymouth, Bristol, Exeter and Wolverhampton, and worked as a programme lead on a range of postgraduate and professional courses for educators working in the field of Inclusive Education. Helen regularly collaborates with education and research professionals both inside and outside of academia and has most recently specialised in exploring the teaching and learning implications of working with ‘difficult knowledge’ in higher education contexts. She is co-editor of the book ‘International perspectives on exclusionary practices in education: how inclusion became exclusion’ published by Palgrave/Macmillan in December 2022.  

Tor Wright – Project Manager

Tor joined the project after six years with UCL Medical School working on programme management and the development of a curriculum map, and her focus will be on co-ordinating the numerous strands of the project.  

Proposed project outcomes 

Over the next three years, the project team will work in collaboration with staff and students on the following:  

• Support and develop professional learning opportunities for all staff and students. 
• Create resources to support module and programme development. 

They will also offer a seminar series, small scale research opportunities, and share findings from national and international experts.  

Staff-student collaboration  

Do you work with eugenics? Share your experience  

The team wants to collaborate with diverse range of colleagues and students across UCL to explore how they can engage with UCL’s relationship to and with eugenics.  

If you work with eugenics (directly or indirectly), we want to hear how you engage students to think about UCL’s eugenics legacy through: 

• Curriculum content
• Creative pedagogies
• Inclusive assessment approaches
• Or in less obvious ways, such as research methodology teaching. 

Funding opportunities 

Through UCL Changemakers, there will be funding opportunities for staff–student projects.

These will bring together colleagues and students to share good practice and to inspire excellence in teaching and learning approaches in this challenging area.  

Public engagement  

The project will aim to offer sector-leading examples from experts at UCL and highlight the ways that coming to terms with eugenics at UCL is an important educational task, reflecting the complexity in productive and affirmative ways.