Put yourself in someone else鈥檚 shoes: Exploring Warwick鈥檚 Human Library
The Human Library gives staff and students the opportunity to engage in open, honest, and respectful conversations with 鈥楬uman Books鈥� and learn about the life experience of others.
A Human Book is a person who volunteers to represent a stigmatized group in the community and answers questions based on their personal experiences. The aim is to challenge what is being said/told/understood about a given topic.
In the most recent session, nine volunteers became 鈥楬uman Books鈥� offering twelve 鈥�Titles鈥� between them, ranging from Immigrant to Depression.
Masters student, Iona Craig, attended the event as a 鈥楻eader鈥�, and shared her thoughts in a blog:
鈥�I felt I learnt the most from listening to the individual鈥�s own stories. A lot can be learnt by simple listening to another鈥檚 experiences. Both individuals I spoke to were very open with me and I thoroughly enjoyed deepening my understanding through what they were able to share.
Perspectives arose which I perhaps 飞辞耻濒诲苍鈥檛 have particularly thought as forms of prejudice before and I intend to take my new awareness forward to help mitigate negative bias in my social circles.
鈥�The Human Library event is a really positive way to actively question and further explore our beliefs in a positive and respectful manner, from the individuals themselves who understand the impact of prejudice from their own experience.鈥�
Read Iona鈥檚
Sam Rogers, one of the event organisers, told us:
鈥�It was a really informative and entertaining session. One of the Readers told me they felt it was a safe space to learn about someone different from yourself and the activity pushed them to think about who people are outside of their 鈥�roles鈥� of students and staff.
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the hard-working staff who supported the event, and the brilliant and helpful Books who made the event possible.
Please watch your calendars for our next Human Library in 2023-24!鈥�
Find out when the next event is taking place on the Human Library webpage.