Seeking Sanctuary in Higher Education: Welcome
´Seeking Sanctuary in Higher Education’ is a project funded by the University of Sheffield’s ONE University initiative. This project was designed to meet Objective (2), which was identified during the ‘(Re) imagining the Higher Education Border’ research project: ‘To increase awareness and understanding of both the trauma and strategies to mitigate it, experienced by people seeking sanctuary, in the process of accessing and participating in higher education’.
The project produced a series of comic strips and animations that sought to communicate through the three pillars of sanctuary (access - welcome - protection):
- Why opportunities to study and work in higher education are so challenging to access, yet play a vital role in the lives of people seeking sanctuary, and;
- How staff and students can take individual and collective action to ensure that universities are safe and welcoming places for people seeking sanctuary.
Welcome
The Welcome pillar of the project highlights that welcome must go beyond symbolic gestures; it requires creating an environment where forced migrant students are treated as valued members of the university community. Many sanctuary seekers experience isolation, cultural misunderstandings, and exclusion even after gaining access to higher education. Without a real sense of belonging, enrollment alone can feel hollow.
Practical ways universities can improve welcome include embedding sanctuary values across all departments, setting up peer mentoring schemes, offering tailored induction programs, and training staff and students on issues faced by displaced people. Celebrating sanctuary students’ contributions and ensuring culturally inclusive student activities are also crucial.
True welcome is a collective responsibility, not the task of a single team or department. Building a culture of belonging requires intentional, university-wide action to ensure that sanctuary students are supported, visible, and empowered within academic life.
Credits
Project Leads
- Dr Rebecca Murray, Lecturer in Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield - Primary Investigator
- Dr Patricia Nabuco Martuscelli, Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sheffield - Co-investigator
Research Associates
- Angel Nakhle
- Enioluwada Oluwajaba
REHAB Researchers
- Abdullah
- Abdulrahman
- Arooba
- Aysha
- Daniel
- Maryam
- Sam
- Tamana
Creative Team
- Susana Vinolo: Illustrator
- Dominic Foster: Creative Editor