MOOC INTRO support structures for students Hello, thank you very much for being here today.
Could you perhaps introduce yourself briefly, and the organisation you work for?
-Thanks for the invitation. My name is Vanja Minic, I am a board member of HÖR,
the first university student organisation for Austrian Rom:nja and the first Austrian youth organisation for Rom:nja,
which tries to connect students and young people to network and support them, offer various
educational programmes or workshops
and is of course also politically active, i.e.
awareness work, but also in the memorial work and of course also tries to
stand up for the students in these matters and I am also a psychotherapist in
training in supervision and I studied psychotherapy studies. - Then I would ask
you my first question, What support structures are needed for
students who experience discrimination? - I think the main point is awareness and education. Unfortunately, this is essential in the fight
against racism an
d experiences of discrimination. The responsibilty of educating people about this
issue should not exclusively lie with people who are affected by it, because it simply takes an
immense amount of courage and strength, that not everyone has. And this awareness
and education should not be exclusively for students, but also
for the staff, because here too experiences of racism are made again and again and
which are then particularly bad because they occur in such a power imbalance and then they mig
ht be
even less able to defend themselves or report these cases. Another point: Is there
a possibility to report racist incidents anonymously if possible? And what
happens with this information? Will this information be taken seriously? How is it handled?
Is it passed on? Does it have consequences? - What is there already? What kind of
structures, including support structures within the university that specialise
specialised is in this area? - Well, on the one hand there is the Hör, i.e. the
u
niversity student body of the Austrian Rom:nja. In addition, there is also the
anti-racist department at the ÖH. The office for anti-racist work and foreign students informs about the admission requirements for studies (the required documents, beginners and doctoral students), nostrification, German courses, pre-study course,… …conditions for the application for the student visa (initial application and renewal application), scholarship opportunities, health insurance, labor(in)law as well as a
bout possibilities of action against racism.
The office for anti-racist work and foreign students - ÖH UNI WIEN They don't just stand up for people affected
by racism but also for foreign students. - Would you say that the University
of Vienna should offer more support for such programmes?
- That would certainly make sense, but the question is also, how public are they anyway?
How accessible are they? Do students even know that they exist? Do people report there
or do few people report? And if f
ew people report, then you also tend to reduce
the number of places. Is it accessible enough for people to turn to it after all? Well
if there is something like that, it's good, but how does it work, how accessible is it? And
what happens with this information? Will I be supported there?
Would I be taken seriously? - Are there any outside the university now? Organisations, associations
that perhaps also are accessible to students, where you can
get in touch, where you can perhaps also send comp
laints?
- So I think it would be important, first and foremost "Zara-civil courage and racism-critical work",
because on the one hand they stand up for people, who are affected by racism, but at the same time
also function as a reporting centre for racist experiences. This are
enormously important statistics that can possibly also be used in politics.
And in addition, if there acomplaint that is also relevant for criminal law, they
offer legal advice. Then there is, particularly important to me
to mention,
because I am a psychotherapist "We are Vienna too", that is a platform for BPoCs,
which are particularly concerned with mental health and also raise awareness about this among
people from the psychosocial sector and train them. Then there is also the
association "D!SRUPT" for non-discriminatory and racism-critical educational work
and for political participation. - These support structures are needed,
but where are the challenges often for students in a university setting? - That yo
u are often not quick-witted in the moment
and that perhaps in retrospect think, "Oh, I could have said this and this and
that." - That often happens or "why did I not put up a fight?" Sometimes such situations
can be overwhelming to that extent that you you can't say anything or that you simply
can't defend yourself and therefore it simply needs a platform for people
to go there afterwards. - What can students do apart from turning to the
various support structures that already exist, do fo
r their own well-being in order to feel comfortable
in a predominantly white institution? - The most important factor is probably
to create a social environment in which such topics can be addressed
and there are spaces or people there who can also hold these topics in a figurative
sense. Who then don't tip over into the "Yes, but did he really mean that?". Who are simply
are sensitised to such issues and can put up with it. By that I mean friends
and family, of course it's always pleasant, wh
en you also have people in your social environment
who have similar experiences, but that is not always necessary. And
is also important that people are interested, friends or family members,
who are not affected by racism. Real allies also say something when the
a person is not there, draw attention to insensitive language or protect
other people. Of course only if you're not putting yourself in danger.
- What would you say then, is one of the biggest challenges for HÖR
when it comes to support
ing students who experience racism?
- We have a big outing problem, which is simply connected
with the fear of discrimination and racism that you could potentially experience,
if you come out. Antiziganism describes similar to Antisemitism, a very long-lasting,
structural phenomenon that goes back to to the Middle Ages and very deeply into our cultural
and social experience and unconsciousness. has nested itself. So often people reproduce,
sometimes even children and adolescents, these racist s
tructures without even realising
what they are doing. So we are fighting for visibility and I think it's also extremely important
to have representations and identification figures and our aim is to be that to some extent
and that was also the main reason, why I am part of HÖR. - Is there anything else
that you really want to get rid of, what do you think is particularly important to mention? I think that we are on the right
track, but that there is still a lot to do. But I also see a lot of h
ope
hope with the younger generations too, who not only speak out against racism,
but are very wiff and educated and in favour of sensitised to many topics. Of course
that won't happen overnight, but there is a process and it is not hopeless,
even if it sometimes seems that way at times. Perhaps it would also be important to say
to say that even as an activist or politically active young person must always be aware
that you can only do as much as it capacity allows, that you should always
that y
ou should always look after yourself the whole burden of the world on your own
shoulders and that nobody benefits from it, if you yourself perish in the process. - Thank you so much for being there,
for sharing this with us. - Thank you very much for the invitation. CREDITS MOOC OUTRO
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