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<h3 class="intro-text">In solidarity with UEA&rsquo;s Refugee Week, we shone the spotlight onto De, UEA&rsquo;s first ever University of Sanctuary scholar. He detailed his journey from Syria, his dreams of studying a PhD in the UK, and his hopes for the future.</h3>
<p class="intro-text"><a href="https://www.ueasanctuary.org/uea-refugee-week/#:~:text=UEA%20Refugee%20Week%20offers%20us%20the%20chance%20to,2023.%20The%20theme%20for%20this%20year%20is%20compassion." target="_blank" rel="noopener">UEA Refugee Week 2023</a>, taking place from Friday 3 to 10 March, offers the UEA community a chance to celebrate being a University of Sanctuary (UoS) and to consider further how we can all work together to create a welcoming culture of inclusivity and awareness. In solidarity with this week, we invited De (whose name has been anonymised for safety reasons) to share his own story.</p>
<p class="intro-text">De&rsquo;s story begins in one of the oldest cities in the world: Aleppo, a city in the north of Syria with a rich history of multiculturalism and diverse religious groups.</p>
<p class="intro-text">A city where today people are battling against the odds to survive in the face of civil war, and access to clean water and power.</p>
<p class="intro-text">This situation became very real for De in 2013, when heavy shelling hit the area and his pharmacy was the only place where people could seek help for the injured. He helped the wounded and provided as much medical care as he could, but there were no other medical services available, His pharmacy did not last much longer before it too was reduced to rubble.</p>
<p class="intro-text">Though he refused to give up trying, De felt helpless and wanted to do more, turning his attention towards research &ndash; another pathway he could pursue to help his country.</p>
<h2 class="intro-text">New opportunities</h2>
<p>De left Aleppo at a time when huge parts of the city were destroyed due to the civil war, to live in the UK under refugee status . Those first few months as he watched from a distance, as diseases like leishmania and malaria, cancer, heart disease and conflict-related injuries spread in Syria, made him keen to know more about the cellular and molecular aspects of diseases.</p>
<p>He also started learning English &ndash; first by self-teaching, then by attending free lessons he found through New Routes, a charity that supports refugees, asylum seekers and isolated migrants, and promotes cross-cultural integration and community awareness. It was through this charity that De was referred to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/study/international-students/into-uea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">INTO UEA</a>, an on-campus partner of the University that offers English language programmes to international students. Funded by UEA&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/university-information/corporate-social-responsibility/university-of-sanctuary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Sanctuary initiative</a>, this opportunity gave De the chance to improve his academic English.</p>
<p>Displaying an inexhaustible passion to learn, he passed his English language exam, and was invited to complete a master&rsquo;s degree through UEA&rsquo;s Sanctuary Scholarship programme in 2018. It was here that De became the University&rsquo;s first ever UoS scholar!</p>
<p>De said: &ldquo;When I was in Syria, it was my dream to do a PhD in the UK &ndash; only one in 100 students in Syria get to achieve a PhD. Without UEA and without University of Sanctuary, this dream would not have happened; Norwich is a safe city with nice people who make you feel at home, and I wouldn&rsquo;t be here today without the scholarship and without UEA&rsquo;s support.&rdquo; &nbsp;</p>
<h2>PhD studies</h2>
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<p>De completed his master&rsquo;s with distinction in 2019, with his final project attempting to investigate the role of autophagy (cell self-digestion) in cancer progression, before embarking on his journey to achieve a PhD in Pharmacology.</p>
<p>While working on his PhD, which was funded by UoS, De&rsquo;s PhD focused in on: &ldquo;Investigating the Expression and Function of Purinergic Receptors in Mouse Artery and Associate Ganglia&rdquo;. The potential future applications of this knowledge held implications for the future treatment of high blood pressure.</p>
<p>De also utilised the molecular experience he had gained during this time to help the NHS team perform thousands of COVID-19 tests daily. He remained passionate about helping during this time despite working long shifts at the hospital, often heading straight to the research laboratory after to finish his PhD experiments and thesis.</p>
<p>Despite all the difficulties he faced, his determination and hardworking attitude meant he was able to achieve the aims of his PhD project as planned at the beginning of the project.</p>
<h2>Support and solidarity</h2>
<p>When De initially arrived in Norwich with refugee status, he received support from two property owners after connecting through a charity. In 2022, eight years after seeking refuge in the UK himself, De opened up his own home to a Ukrainian mother and her daughter fleeing the conflict in Ukraine &ndash; personifying the welcoming nature of the University of Sanctuary initiative.</p>
<p>De affirmed: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very glad to have done it. It is a wonderful feeling when you can change people&rsquo;s lives and keep them safe. I would advise anyone to do the same.</p>
<p>"The problems I had faced made things simpler, as I had an experience not dissimilar to what they had been through. Housing is such a big issue in the UK, and I received such kindness when I first moved to Norwich that I wanted to give something back.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>What&rsquo;s next for De?</h2>
<p>Having completed his PhD studies at the end of 2022, De now intends to remain in the world of academia and either progress into lecturing or a position in Clinical Pharmacy. &nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I love teaching,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and would prefer to stay at UEA for two reasons: to thank UEA and to get more experience at one of the top ten pharmacy schools in the UK.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I am always asked about when I finish my PhD, whether I will be going home to Aleppo or staying in the UK. My answer is that I feel I belong to two countries now, both the UK and Syria. I am hoping to be a productive part of the UK community, and wish to take my knowledge and education to Syria to improve research and the higher educational and health system.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of myself. I never usually feel that way, but I&rsquo;ve come from nothing to being a PhD holder &ndash; and now I just want to give something back.&rdquo;</p>
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In solidarity with UEA’s Refugee Week, we shone the spotlight onto De, UEA’s first ever University of Sanctuary scholar. He detailed his journey from Syria, his dreams of studying a PhD in the UK, and his hopes for the future.

Spotlight on De

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<h3 class="intro-text">With the opening this week of the exhibition about the Gloucester warship, we spoke to some of the UEA alumni, staff and students involved in the creation of an animation about the ship&rsquo;s final voyage in May 1682.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/norwich-castle/whats-on/exhibitions/last-voyage-of-the-gloucester" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Last Voyage of the Gloucester: Norfolk's Royal Shipwreck exhibition</a>&nbsp;is officially opening at Norwich Castle Museum &amp; Art Gallery on Saturday 25 February and will run until Sunday 10 September 2023. This exhibition tells the story of the last, tragic voyage of&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.uea.ac.uk/the-gloucester/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Gloucester warship</a>, which sank off the coast of Great Yarmouth in 1682, and publicly unveils the artefacts brought to light after its initial discovery 15 years ago by Julian and Lincoln Barnwell and James Little. &nbsp;</p>
<p>As part of this exhibition, a specially commissioned animation dramatising an argument that happens on the ship between James Stuart, the Duke of York and Albany, and naval officers was created to be revealed at the launch. This short drama recreates the likely debates that took place on the Gloucester as to the fastest or safest course to navigate the seas off East Anglia on the night before it foundered. Steve Waters, Professor of Scriptwriting at UEA, was responsible for writing the animation&rsquo;s script. His role involved considering known historical facts about the ship, in addition to finding a way to detail the final journey of the Gloucester shipwreck and its passengers within just four minutes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>He said: &ldquo;The animation is narrated by one of the characters present, the captain John Berry, and we then witness a terse exchange between James Stuart (later King James II and VII), and the different factions on the ship, with some arguing for a safer but slower passage out to sea and another suggesting there is a safe, securer route closer in to shore. James then fatally splits the difference between the two options and may as a consequence have ensured the doom of the vessel and the consequent huge loss of life.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This was an exciting but difficult task - I had to ensure I honoured the meticulous research of colleagues such as Prof Claire Jowitt and Dr Ben Redding, who have pored over documents to work out why the ship foundered &nbsp;- and yet had to meet the brief of finding a lively and visual way of clarifying the fate of the ship through these characters and all in a matter of minutes. Not easy, but fun, and I have loved seeing how Eye Films turned my script into something rich and visual, and working with the actors to conjure up these long-dead figures.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The whole tale is so haunting and fascinating, a genuine mystery and indeed tragedy, and for me a tale of the arrogance of the powerful in the face of those who know their trade.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mike Bernardin, course director for the Drama MA in Theatre Directing at UEA, was responsible for bringing together the UEA cohort involved in the voice acting for the Gloucester animation. &nbsp;</p>
<p>He said: &ldquo;The Gloucester shipwreck is such a fascinating piece of UEA historical research, made accessible to the public via this brilliant exhibition. UEA Drama were approached to cast the voice-acting for the animation element, for which Steve Waters had written the script. I run the UEA Ensemble LAB, where current and former UEA students train together and collaborate on projects such as this.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;What was different here was the approach to the narrative form: we decided that a story populated by male characters could be more engaging if it were narrated by a diverse group of voices - reflecting, perhaps, the larger range of people affected by the tragedy than just those making the fateful decisions. We&rsquo;ve been commissioned for voiceover work before, but the collaboration with the researchers was an exciting new experience for us and hugely helpful to the actors in finding their characterisations.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>We also spoke to graduates Shem Jacobs, Katie Smith, and current UEA Drama student Dean J. Smith, who all lent their voices for the animation. They spoke about the techniques they used for &nbsp;voicing such historic roles and the impact that working alongside one another can have upon performance.&nbsp;</p>
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<h3 class="portlet-body">What role did you play in the animation, and how did you embody it with your voice?&nbsp;</h3>
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<p>SJ: I voiced Mr Gunman, who captains an accompanying vessel the Mary yacht. He's trying to be heard from his ship across the waves and wind, so I spoke with authority and breadth, mimicking shouting.&nbsp;</p>
<p>KS: I played Ayres, who was the pilot aboard the Gloucester, responsible for navigation. Ayres was described to me as a respected, authoritative figure who would likely have been 35-45 around the time of the voyage. There is a possibility that he was a 'Scot', so I gave it my best attempt at a Scottish accent and pitched down from my usual speaking voice. Ayres must have been certain about his proposed course, so I tried to speak with assuredness and confidence.&nbsp;</p>
<p>DJS: I voiced the role of Mr Holmes. As the master of the Gloucester and an experienced sailor, I figured it made sense to give Mr Holmes a somewhat authoritative voice. &nbsp;</p>
<h3>What preparation did you do for your role?&nbsp;</h3>
<p>SJ: Prior to recording we'd had a read through and play around with casting options, and it was simple enough deciding where to place the character voice.&nbsp;</p>
<p>KS: Before the recording, we had a Zoom call with the whole creative team behind the project. This was a great chance for us to get a feel for the characters and how they might speak, as well as starting to discover the relationships between them. I had already worked with almost everybody involved in this project, either as a student or since graduating in 2019. That familiarity was hugely helpful here, especially given that I don't have much experience with voice acting.&nbsp;</p>
<p>DJS: I'm a voice actor by trade so this is my bread and butter, really! I'm also currently a drama student at UEA and we've spent a lot of time focusing on character work, so I found that really helped given how little time we actually spend with Holmes during the piece.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Why did you want to get involved with the Gloucester animation?&nbsp;</h3>
<p>SJ: It was a bit of fun really. The graduate ensemble hadn't had a project for a while, and this was a short one to get people in the same room working on something again.&nbsp;</p>
<p>KS: I was part of a group of people contacted by Mike Bernardin about the Gloucester animation project, through the UEA Drama alumni ensemble he set up in 2019. Since graduating, I've been lucky enough to perform Steve Water&rsquo;s writing on a few occasions, like Phoenix, Dodo, Butterfly at Norwich Arts Centre in 2022, and it's always been a hugely rewarding experience. This was no exception! I jumped at the chance. &nbsp;</p>
<p>DJS: I'd actually never heard of the Gloucester project until it was mentioned to me by a lecturer of mine, Mike Bernardin, who approached me to see if I would be interested in being part of the project. So, I looked it up and realised how I'd never even known that such a historic maritime discovery was made off of the coast of my home county!  &nbsp;</p>
<h3>What was your favourite part of the recording process and why? &nbsp;</h3>
<p>SJ: It's always enjoyable recording live, with all the performers in one space. Often recording can be a little isolated but when you're together it's like theatre, you can feel the rhythm and feed off one another more naturally.&nbsp;</p>
<p>KS: I loved hearing all the different voices in the room during the recording session, especially with the mix of genders and accents we had. It felt like a really collaborative, live process, with script edits and character decisions evolving over the course of the evening.&nbsp;</p>
<p>DJS: I really enjoyed being in the room with everyone and listening to their performances. Most of my work recently has been remote over Zoom, so it was nice to actually do some recording in person.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Has this experience made you want to get involved with future voice acting projects?&nbsp;</h3>
<p>SJ: Yes, I am a voice actor currently working on audio dramas and educational materials, looking into audio book reading. I also was involved in another UEA project, The Adventures of Zacharia Jaeger, and am the reader of the children's audio guide at Norwich Castle.&nbsp;</p>
<p>KS: I'd be very eager to get involved with future voice acting projects. This experience was hugely helpful in demystifying what actually goes into audio drama. I really enjoyed working in the UEA Media Centre and getting to grips with a professional recording setup.&nbsp;</p>
<p>DJS: I love voice acting and would be honoured to be involved in future voice acting projects. This experience with UEA has only made me more excited to do more in-person recordings in the future.&nbsp;</p>
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With the opening this week of the exhibition about the Gloucester warship, we spoke to some of the UEA alumni, staff and students involved in the creation of an animation about the ship’s final voyage in May 1682.

Spotlight on the Gloucester shipwreck

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<h3 class="intro-text">In what has been a difficult year for those affected by the conflict in Ukraine, staff and students have shown their support in many different ways. From last week&rsquo;s twinning symposium event to staff members opening up their homes, UEA has shown solidarity and compassion throughout 2022.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</h3>
<p>Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday 24 February, staff and students across the University have worked together, and in partnership with other organisations, to find the ways and means to not only offer families a safe, secure environment to live and study in, but to generate opportunities so that those escaping or affected by the conflict can build a positive future for themselves.&nbsp;<br><br>Take a look back at some of the stories of support from UEA this year, introduce some new initiatives, and focus in on last week&rsquo;s research symposium between UEA and Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (PNU).<br>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Research symposium&nbsp;</h2>
<p>On Wednesday 14 December, after months of planning and conversation, more than 130 attendees from UEA and PNU came together online to share ideas, experiences, and generate ideas for future collaboration work between the two institutions. Attendees were invited to participate in one of the three breakout groups, exploring the two universities&rsquo; research themes of &lsquo;Culture, Creativity &amp; Belief&rsquo;, &lsquo;Rethinking Society&rsquo;, and &lsquo;Human Health and Natural Environments&rsquo;. &nbsp;<br><br>Prof Matthias Neumann from the School of History and a leading member of the symposium working group said: &ldquo;The research symposium with PNU was the culmination of an idea we&rsquo;ve been working towards for much of 2022. It was fantastic to see so many colleagues from across UEA and PNU coming together to share ideas and discuss ways in which our twinned universities can collaborate on some of the most interesting and essential research topics of our time.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Housing Ukrainian refugees</h2>
<p>Several members of the UEA community generously opened their doors to Ukrainians seeking refuge, as part of the &lsquo;Homes for Ukraine&rsquo; scheme this year.</p>
<p>One such person was Laura Potts, News and Media Manager in&nbsp;UEA&rsquo;s Content and Communications team. Back in June,&nbsp;<a href="https://my.uea.ac.uk/news/-/article/spotlight-on-taking-in-ukrainian-refugees">Laura spoke about opening her home to a mother and son from Ukraine&nbsp;</a>as they began a new life in Norwich.<br>&nbsp;<br>With support from Laura and her family, the mother and son will soon be taking another big step by moving to a home of their own, settling into village life just outside of the city and becoming a part of the diverse, welcoming community that makes Norfolk such a fine place to live.&nbsp;<br><br>Laura said: &ldquo;My family have been moved by the strength and courage our guests have shown in starting a new life in England and felt fortunate to share this time with them. We will still be very much part of each other&rsquo;s lives as they settle into their own home nearby, and we are gratified to have made such good friends and learned a great deal about their rich culture.&rdquo;<br>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Ukraine crisis working group&nbsp;</h2>
<p>The working group was formed earlier in the year, with a focus on Ukrainians settling in the local area, and has a cross-departmental membership that includes representation from UEA Global, Communications &amp; Advocacy, History, and Student Services.&nbsp;<br><br>At the beginning of the conflict, many staff volunteered to host families as part of the &lsquo;Homes for Ukraine&rsquo; scheme. UEA also contributed to a fundraiser for Karazin Kharkiv University, the University&rsquo;s Aurora network partner.<br><br>Additionally, the team has delivered special admission events where attendees are able to speak with recruitment specialists and enjoy a tour of the campus.</p>
<p>Most recently, the working group has focused on fostering relations with higher education partners as part of the Universities UK International (UUKi) twinning initiative with PNU, which became official in September.&nbsp;<br><br>The group is also remaining involved with the recent virtual research symposium, which brought together more than 100 academics and postgraduate students from both universities and have been looking to provide opportunities for PNU students to study abroad at UEA (semester and summer), in addition to planning the facilitation of virtual seminars as they are delivered to Ukrainian postgraduate students.&nbsp;</p>
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<div class="clearfix journal-content-article" data-analytics-asset-id="8334786" data-analytics-asset-title="UEA and Ukraine in 2022_GC014 - Alumni Story" data-analytics-asset-type="web-content">
<h2>Student protest</h2>
<p>In early March, more than 300 students gathered in The Square to protest the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. The event featured speakers from communities affected by the conflict, including Russian and Ukrainian students, as well a two-minute silence in honour of those who sadly lost their lives during the invasion. The protest was organised by two members of the Russian Speaking Society: Ekaterina Dudakova, from the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing and Anastasiia Medvedieva, from the School of Psychology.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>University of Sanctuary scholarship&nbsp;</h2>
<p>Norwich is one of over 70 locations across the UK to be named a City of Sanctuary and has a proud history of welcoming refugees and asylum seekers. Perhaps most famously in the 16th century, when people who were escaping religious persecution arrived and gave the city a burst of creativity, prosperity, and a lasting affinity with canaries.&nbsp;<br><br>UEA is equally proud to be an accredited University of Sanctuary, proving an ongoing commitment to creating a welcoming culture of inclusivity and awareness.<br>As part of UEA&rsquo;s University of Sanctuary commitment, a 40-strong cross-departmental steering group of staff and students oversee initiatives that seek to reduce barriers to participation in higher education faced by those seeking asylum, including the scholarship programme.&nbsp;<br><br>UEA is now supporting more than 20 sanctuary students through a variety of different scholarships schemes, including the Master&rsquo;s Sanctuary scholarships, which were released in direct response to the war in Ukraine.<br><br>Sanctuary students supported through scholarships at UEA are from a variety of countries. This includes Ukraine, alongside Afghanistan, Syria and other countries directly affected by conflict.<br><br>Find out more about the scholarship programme on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/university-information/corporate-social-responsibility/university-of-sanctuary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Sanctuary webpage</a>.<br>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Additional support and opportunities&nbsp;</h2>
<p>After an inspiring fundraising campaign led by medical students, including a number from Norwich Medical School, &pound;8,741 was raised to provide urgent medical equipment for Okhmatdyt Children&rsquo;s Hospital in Kyiv and Isida Clinic, Hospital of Ukraine. The group have now joined efforts with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.babylifeline.org.uk/1000-babies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baby Lifeline&rsquo;s Ukraine appeal</a>&nbsp;as a way to increase efficiency and provide the most aid possible for medical staff on the ground in Ukraine.&nbsp;<br><br>UEA Student Action for Refugees (STAR), part of the 34,000 student-strong national STAR network, seeks to build a more understanding and just society where refugees are welcome and can thrive. UEA&rsquo;s STAR team have been involved with a variety of fundraising and support projects, including organising volunteers to sort donations for Ukraine.</p>
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From last week’s twinning symposium event to staff members opening up their homes, UEA has shown solidarity and compassion with those affected by the conflict in Ukraine throughout 2022.

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UEA and Ukraine in 2022