This page of the website will show all the past events the School of Education, Language and Psychology has put on!

Make sure to return to this page to see all the amazing events we have put on!


International Women’s Day

As part of International Women’s Day 2021, the School of Education, Language and Psychology (staff, students and partners) celebrated the many great women who influenced them – the women who have shaped their lives and their thinking.

School of ELP Social Events

Students were invited to join us on Thursday 27th May 2021 and Friday 28th May 2021 to celebrate the end of their undergraduate degree at York St John University. The ELP team recognised the difficulties faced by all students over the past year and organised this drop in event for students to catch up with friends, fellow students and staff and to enjoy some pizza and (soft) drinks!


Re-Creating York’s Hidden Stories

Linguists Rachel Wicaksono and Dasha Zhurauskaya explored the mechanics of storytelling, focusing on the stories of a ‘hidden’ population of migrants in the city of York.

Working with a community project that collected interviews with migrants from Africa, Europe, Asia, and South and Central America, who had lived in York between two and 50 years, they demonstrated how meaning in interviews is co-constructed and stories are re-created.

Rachel and Dasha’s interactive presentation may be of particular interest to students, academic researchers and community project leaders who are interested in migration stories and interviews as a method of data collection.

This lecture was part of York Festival of Ideas 2021, to find out more click here.


Flavour of Korean culture brought to York 

York St John University hosted a day of special events celebrating Korean culture on Saturday 17 July 2021.  

The Yor-K festival shared both ancient and modern aspects of K-culture – from traditional music, dance and calligraphy to K-pop which are now hugely popular across the world.  

Held annually in the UK since 2013, the Korea Day festival provides local and international communities with the opportunity to enjoy Korean culture and art. Yor-K festival 2021 hosted by York St John University and in partnership with the Korean Cultural Centre UK, the City of Chuncheon and the Korea Tourism Organization London, brought a flavour of Korea to York for the day. South Korea was one of several guest nations invited to the 2021 G7 summit in Cornwall, strengthening its connection to the UK. The Yor-K festival was funded as a post-G7 summit event.  

During the day, visitors were treated to a unique collection of outdoor, family-friendly Korean cultural activities in the historic Quad at York St John University. These included a Korean traditional costume (‘Hanbok’) show, Korean traditional games, crafts, calligraphy and a selection of Korean food to try. 

York Theatre Royal set the stage to host the Yor-K: Korean Music Night, offering an eclectic showcase of traditional and contemporary Korean music and dance. The evening featured dynamic performances from the Shilla Ensemble and the String Trio, Korean traditional music reinterpreted on Western instruments and the first UK performance of ‘Strawberry Soda’ from the Korean Cultural Centre’s K-Pop lyric writing competition. The Lord Mayor of York extended a warm welcome, as part of the evening performance at York Theatre Royal, to all first-time and returning visitors to York, especially the representatives from the Korean Cultural Centre UK and the Korean Tourism Organization London. First year YSJU student Amber Summersgill penned the winning lyrics while Juhara Ahmed of Saint Albans designed the album artwork. The song was then performed by U8Kandy, a project group for the song consisting of YSJU students. K-pop is a global phenomenon thanks to its distinctive blend of addictive melodies, slick choreography and production. 

York St John University teaches a lively series of language courses, where Korean is one of two East Asian languages on offer. Students can study abroad and take part in exchange programmes, developing their cultural capital with a global, multilingual experience. Accessible to students from all backgrounds, Korean language courses at the University are increasingly popular and provide opportunities to develop life skills and career prospects.  

Dr Yeji Han, Lecturer in Korean & Linguistics at York St John University said:  

“The Yor-K festival gave visitors the chance to experience first-hand both new and old elements of Korean culture. We were delighted to be part of this exciting programme of events, especially since interest and demand for places on our Korean language course at York St John has been growing so rapidly in the last few years, it is now the fastest growing programme in the UK.”


Performance pictures: John Saunders, Reception pictures: David Lee