Delighted to have participated in the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences Research Showcase Day | 14 May 2025.
The Research Showcase Day provides a valuable opportunity for the CACSSS research community to come together, celebrate collective achievements, share ideas and best practice and spark new collaborations across disciplines.
The poster I presented, as part of the work of the Praxis Project, is the third and final part of a four-year research study conducted as part of the work of the Praxis Project at University College Cork (UCC). The study examines the role of Global Justice Education (GJE) in higher education, building on previous reports that explored how UCC staff and students engage with global justice themes in teaching, learning, and research. Initially, this research was framed within Global Citizenship and Development Education (GCDE), but findings from staff, students, and external stakeholders indicated that Global Justice Education provides a clearer and more critically engaged framework for understanding this work. While the Praxis Project has adopted this terminology, the study acknowledges that institutions and projects may use different terms based on their own conceptual and strategic considerations.
This final phase of the study explores the broader implications of our findings, drawing on discussions with internal and external stakeholders, including UCC staff, students, university leadership, and partners from civil society, public bodies, and other universities. Key themes include the role of interdisciplinary collaboration, the challenges and opportunities of embedding global justice education within institutional structures, the development of global partnerships, and the impact of student activism. A significant finding relates to the importance of clarity in language and conceptual framing, ensuring that education for global justice remains critically engaged rather than being depoliticised or diluted by external policy and funding trends.
The timing of this report coincides with the publication of UCC’s Global Engagement Plan in 2025, providing an opportunity to reflect on how institutional policies align with justice-oriented approaches. Rather than offering prescriptive recommendations, this report presents findings with implications for educators, researchers, students, policymakers, and funders. It aims to contribute to ongoing discourse on the role of universities in fostering meaningful engagement with global justice, particularly in relation to curriculum, research, institutional strategy, and partnerships with communities and other universities.
Full poster here: CACSS poster 2025
