Outside the classroom
Learn more about our student society, international visits, and the Young People in Humanitarianism Conference series.
HCRI Society
The HCRI Society provides a space for students, within the Institute and beyond, interested in humanitarian topics to come together, share ideas and socialise.
It's a great way to get to know like-minded people while digging deeper into the issues you care about.
The society was formed in 2019 and was nominated for the Student Union's New Society of the Year Award, recognising the inclusive, welcoming and fun nature of its activities.
Find out more
A note
Did you have enough of all the wars, economic crises and a strange relationship finished too soon or too late or never even started yet?
Well, the HCRI society is there for you!
A space for all students from all backgrounds to come together, share moments and think backwards and forwards.
In 2024/25, the HCRI Society will organise speaker events, fundraising bake sales, fortnightly socials and study sessions, weekly group discussion meetings on natural hazards and culture, maybe a podcast, networking events, and as many other event ideas that our new members would like to get involved and partner with.
The events we did in 2023/24 included film screenings, humanitarian deployment training, and the annual student-staff winter socials co-organised with HCRI.
A poem
I ask you,
What has this world come to?
Do we live in a world where we can freely express what we think?
Do we still chase what we miss in every blink of an eye?
Do we strive to seek what’s not clearly shown to us?
Or has life become a set of dreams not worth dreaming about?
A life which is no different than an empty walnut rolling down a pitch-black space,
Mourning and falling into nothingness and oblivion.
Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute might make you feel like this
Or any of the combined events around you,
However,
It’s very easy to fall into sorrow and forget about the beauty and promises of tomorrow
Through debates, marches, film screenings, events, socials and revelries
We will prosper and break the despair,
The despair that is put on us by the most powerful
The despair we can only lift off our shoulders
Only once we find and listen to each other's voices,
Openly discussing, collaborating
And working in harmony to create our community and have memories and friends worth keeping.
Thank you.
International visits
HCRI students have opportunities to participate in international research trips, such as our annual visits to India and Uganda.
India
Undergraduate students in the course unit 'Practical Approaches to Researching Conflict and Disaster (HCRI30111)' will undertake an educational visit to India in January 2025.
This course unit asks students to think about how we conduct research in conflict/disaster-affected environments, and these conversations tie into a trip to Mumbai, exploring themes around 'Indian humanitarianism', responses to the IDP/refugee problem, and local disaster management - in particular concerning climate change.
Uganda
Postgraduate students in the course unit 'Researching Responses to Displacement (HCRI60061)' have, in the past, undertaken research visits to Rwanda and Uganda. Future visit locations to be confirmed.
The course unit aims to give students fieldwork experience of Humanitarianism in action for those displaced due to conflict.
This facilitates a better understanding of the ethical considerations of doing research in humanitarian contexts, and to develop sensitivity during the research process.
Young People in Humanitarianism Conference (YPHC)
These conferences engage secondary school students in current world affairs and encourage them to take on and attempt to deal with complex global crises.
HCRI students have organised several YPHCs, for which they are assessed through their participation, organisation and reflection.
They are tasked with designing and delivering interactive talks and exercises on issues related to humanitarianism and disaster response, for participants from local secondary schools to tackle.
At the 2024 YPHC, we were joined by more than 80 students from Manchester Academy, Malbank School, Wirral Grammar, Altrincham College, and Reddish Vale School.
The bulk of the day was an extended disaster response simulation, with sessions on:
- preparing the population for the event - the role of the media;
- managing an unfolding disaster;
- getting aid – post-disaster.
We hope this will become an annual event, given its success to date.
Previous YPHCs have included a day with Buile Hill Visual Arts College, with thematic streams on human rights, refugees and disasters and climate change.
Some learned to devise human rights for the fictional 'People's Republic of Greater Manchester'; others experienced a day in the life of a refugee; whilst some tackled climate change problems.
- View photos from the 2024 conference
- View photos from the 2019 conference
- View photos from the 2016 conference