In a 2022 plenary for the BALEAP (British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes) Professional Issues Meeting, applied linguist Adrian Holliday challenged the widespread framing of international students as ‘problematic newcomers.’ Instead, he offered a discourse which views international students as ‘intercultural experts,’ capable of negotiating their own learning narratives and sense of belonging within new cultural environments. As an institution, we have a duty to help students recognise the strengths they bring to the university. We also need to support them in reframing their positionality, not as outsiders, but as experts who can shape The University of Sussex for future generations.
The Intercultural Reflection Series (IRS) has been designed to work with our international students to develop this sense of intercultural expertise and belonging. It provides a novel, student-led, discursive space in which students can share their expertise with others. In this space students come together to engage in critical discussion concerning how they understand their positionality here at Sussex and how they make sense of their contribution to the wider academic culture. In addition to meeting in person, the Series also includes guided input from an interactive virtual learning environment (Canvas) set up to disseminate input on intercultural communication theory. This site hosts bitesize lectures and overviews of intercultural concepts that can be used to help students better understand their own intercultural expertise, doing so by introducing them to terms such as non-essentialism; intersectionality; othering; ethnorelativism; English as a Lingua Franca; native-speakerism; intercultural praxis; and Holliday’s ‘grammar of culture’ (1999, 2011, 2018).
Ultimately, the Intercultural Reflection Series offers our international students the chance to engage with other students from outside of their disciplines, and to think of their own intercultural resources in more empowering ways, for example, by realising how their own experiences, understandings, and worldviews can be used to initiate change at the university and to make its culture of learning safer and more representative for all. The Series has also helped students to form support networks across the wider international community at the University.
Read the zine created by our Intercultural Ambassadors, Précieux Rajaofera and Victoria Rodriguez and organisers Chris Stocking and Jo Osborne. It showcases the ideas, stories, creativity, and powerful reflections that emerged across the Intercultural Reflection Series. It’s absolutely worth exploring.
About the Intercultural Ambassadors
Précieux G. Rajaofer
Précieux is a lawyer and youth leader with seven years of experience leading a youth leadership organisation that strengthens youth activism, expands socio‑economic opportunities, and supports young people to participate more fully in political life. Since 2019, he has supported 5,000 active citizens and influential young leaders, helping them to advocate for their rights, claim political spaces, and lead meaningful development initiatives. As a Master’s student in Development Studies at Sussex (2024–25), Précieux was drawn to the Intercultural Ambassador role as a way of expanding his global impact and deepening his intercultural leadership. Through the Intercultural Reflection Series, he helped build a culture of belonging and supported students from diverse cultural backgrounds in navigating the complexities of intercultural life and UK academic culture. The experience, he says, transformed him into “a global citizen with deep intercultural awareness.”
Précieux reflects on the series:
Facilitating the Intercultural Reflection Series was both humbling and energising. I saw students move from hesitation to confidence, finding their voice while affirming others. What stood out was the vulnerability and strength they brought, from challenging stereotypes to reclaiming their English. As an Intercultural Ambassador, I also grew: learning to listen deeply, hold space without authority, and embrace facilitation as mutual learning. This series reshaped how I understand culture, community, and belonging in the university.
Victoria Rodriguez Denyer
Victoria has a background in international relations and sustainable development. Before arriving at Sussex, she worked in Colombia’s environmental sector, collaborating with local communities and public and private stakeholders. She came to Sussex to pursue an MA in Development Studies at IDS, where the Intercultural Ambassador role helped her expand her skills in facilitation, data analysis, and participatory research. She is now working in London as an SDR, helping strengthen the resilience of organisational infrastructure across EMEA.
Victoria reflects on the series:
We worked with such a diverse group of people who brought perspectives from different cultures and disciplines, making each session incredibly rich. For me, it was a chance to connect with fellow students and improve our university experience, while gaining skills in creating spaces that encourage creativity and diversity.
What students said about the series
The IRS gave me a space where I didn’t need to ‘perform’ a version of myself to fit in. As a Malagasy student, being able to speak from my positionality and have it validated in a collective setting helped me feel more rooted and visible at Sussex—not just present, but represented.
It invited me to locate myself within global systems of inequality and to reflect more intentionally on how I engage across difference. I’ve become more aware of how power and privilege shape every interaction, and more committed to practicing humility, curiosity, and care.
Enacting Sussex 2035
The Intercultural Reflection Series embodies the spirit of the University of Sussex 2035 Strategy, promoting Global and Civic Engagement, Human Flourishing, and Global Knowledge Equity. It empowers students to understand themselves not as passive participants in a global university, but as active contributors to a more equitable, connected, and culturally conscious academic community.
Watch a conversation about the Sussex University Intercultural Reflection Series, its design, delivery, and outcomes. Delivered by the two Intercultural Ambassadors, Précieux G. Rajaofera & Victoria Rodriguez Denyer.