New online programme will help universities tackle harassment and hate on campus

Tackling Harassment: Promoting Cultural Change in Higher Education, a new digital programme launching today from Epigeum, part of Oxford University Press, combines evidence-based best practices with expert learning design to support higher education institutions and their wider communities working to tackle harassment and hate. 

The pandemic has thrown the pervasive issues of harassment and hate into sharp relief. While these issues are nothing new, we have seen a spike in incidents of hate and harassment across society and within our university communities (Advance HE, Evaluation of Safeguarding Students Catalyst Fund Projects, 2020) and this new course aims to address these issues throughout the higher education sector. Taking a holistic approach, the programme’s two online modules, Being an active bystander and Responding to disclosures, combine evidence-based best practices with expert learning design to raise awareness, counteract barriers to reporting and intervention, and encourage positive cultural change throughout the whole university community. The programme is accompanied by blended learning material and can complement existing in-person initiatives, facilitating the up-scaling of prevention and response training across the whole university community.

The programme has been developed in collaboration with a range of academic experts, students, student services staff, and senior leaders across the higher education sector. It was authored by Angie Wright, who is Educational Development Lead at Stop Hate, a leading charity combatting hate in all its forms. Dr Alan Berkowitz, an award-winning independent consultant specializing in culture change, gender issues, ending men’s violence and fostering social justice, was Expert Advisor on the course, playing a key role in helping to shape the overarching vision for Tackling Harassment. He comments: ‘Tackling Harassment: Promoting Cultural Change in Higher Education relies on the positive motivation of community members to promote change and prevent harm by teaching bystanders to identify and notice harassment and injustice, and to respond in safe, appropriate and respectful ways. It will be of benefit to any educational institution that is seeking effective, efficient, and science-based strategies, to be used as part of a larger, comprehensive prevention effort.’

The online, modular format of Tackling Harassment will enable institutions to deliver essential training in a non-judgmental, accessible, and engaging ‘safe space’. Institutions can subscribe to the programme from today.

For more information about the Tackling Harassment: Promoting Cultural Change in Higher Education programme, and to request free trial access, visit: http://www.epigeum.com/tackling-harassmentor email epigeum@oup.com.