Compassionate Campus

By Tabatha Sherborne

How can we make our campuses kinder and more supportive?

By compassion we mean understanding and helping others,
especially those in need.

Making universities more supportive, caring and inclusive is one way to nurture students and help them to thrive.

We want to find out whether students experience universities as caring and supportive.

We hope to find ways to help students feel connected and like

they 'belong'.

We can then learn from good practice and identify where change is needed.

The Compassionate Campus project is happening in Exeter and King's College London.

We are collecting student stories and experiences, and feeding them back into the university systems with the aim of enacting real change. We have conducted focus groups, sociality workshops, and anthropological studies.

Below are short films created with students and leadership, by our visual researcher Dr Polly Card.

Compassionate Leadership

By Polly Card

Living with Chronic Illness as a Student

Student Story: Lauren Asare

By Polly Card

Commuting and Connections

Student Story: Eleanor Zalick

By Polly Card

Exeter Community Garden and Compassion

By Polly Card

Wellbeing and Medical Students

Student Story: Libby Terrieux-Taylor

By Polly Card