Month: June 2021

Dr Sohag Nafis Saleh, Principal Teaching Fellow and Phase 1 Digital Development Lead, Faculty of Medicine

Part of Shifting the Lens: A celebration of cultural diversity at Imperial

“When I was four or five, I moved from Leeds to Keighley, a small town about twenty miles away. It was a challenging place to be. At the time, the National Front had a strong presence there. I didn’t encounter it a lot, but the fear was always there, and there were places around town to avoid.

“My family is Muslim, however, me and my two elder sisters went to Catholic school. It wasn’t a choice based on religion, but rather on how we as a working-class family could get the best quality state education available – something my Mum felt our local Catholic school was best at providing for us. I wasn’t properly confirmed or anything, but I was an altar boy!

“There were other schools in the area that had more Asian people and also there was a Muslim community. But I was kind of kept away from that. So for me, I didn’t have much of a cultural or religious identity growing up. I saw culture and religion as being hand-in-hand; I saw them as the same thing. My school life was this strange dichotomy of being Muslim and Catholic, but I found it really helpful because it made me learn about different religions. Quite often, when people think about religions, it’s from the outside, but here I was an outsider in two communities – two very similar monotheistic religions. But people tend to focus on the differences, I guess.”

Read Sohag’s profile

Rokshan Easwarathasan, Undergraduate, Faculty of Medicine

Part of Shifting the Lens: A celebration of cultural diversity at Imperial

“I was never ashamed of my background at school, but there weren’t many of us and I wouldn’t always be outgoing about being Tamil and from Sri Lanka. I just knew I was different.

“My parents are both immigrants from Sri Lanka, but I was born and brought up in East London. My surname has thirteen letters in it – lots of Sri Lankan people have long names – and teachers have always struggled with it or avoided it full stop. Things like that make you realise you’re different. Even my first name, some people have difficulty with it. But nowadays people want to learn how to pronounce your name properly, even more so at Imperial where there are people from so many cultures. Everyone’s welcoming. (more…)

Kemi Aofolaju, Communications and Events Officer, Department of Bioengineering

Part of Shifting the Lens: A celebration of cultural diversity at Imperial

“I joined Imperial in May 2016, having moved to the UK at the age of six from Lagos in Nigeria. Sadly, my Dad passed away while I was studying Drama at Queen Mary University of London. It was a really difficult time, but the staff at my university were so amazing and supportive that they inspired me to work in higher education. (more…)

Fatima Elzahra Khan, Undergraduate, Department of Chemical Engineering

Part of Shifting the Lens: A celebration of cultural diversity at Imperial

“Back in the Emirates and Pakistan, there is a disparity between how men and women are treated, but my mum is one of the most powerful and inspiring women I know. She left home to pursue her education and get a PhD. Marrying my dad was not the done thing – she was probably expected to marry a local, which a lot of my aunts did do. (more…)

Dr Adriana Navarro-Suarez, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow, Department of Chemistry

Part of Shifting the Lens: A celebration of cultural diversity at Imperial

“To me, Colombia means happiness. There’s such amazing food, and on Sundays, we usually have a family gathering with our grandma. We don’t do this that often now because we don’t all live together, but whenever I go back home there is always a time where around 30 of us will gather and eat, drink and laugh.  

“Colombians also love dancing – especially Cuban and Colombian salsa! As a nation, we’re really successful in international dancing competitions. Colombia is also a very religious country. During Christmas, there is an event called novena, where for nine days before the 24th you pray each night. Each of those nine nights is hosted by a different house/family and includes food and drinks.  (more…)