Faces of Reading

From day one I found my colleagues welcoming and warm towards me. I have always had some great help and guidance whenever I have found any aspect of my role difficult or if I felt I am stuck. In fact, even though I was working in a temporary position, I was given equal opportunities to work on different projects and apply my knowledge and practical experience to my work. My line managers have been very supportive, and, on many occasions, I have been the lead for some projects as well, which boosted my morale and confidence.

My journey at Reading has now moved to the next phase. From being made permanent in my role, I have now been promoted and I am delighted to continue being a part of the University.

If you ask me how I would define the University of Reading, I will say it is one supportive and inclusive community of people from different cultures – and a world of opportunities to further your personality, skills and career. I look forward to continuing to work on exciting projects, meeting new people and learning something new every day; all being part of this wonderful family called the University of Reading.

In February 2020, I became co-Chair of the LGBTQIA+ staff network. I identify as Gay and Jewish. I feel very fortunate to work in a welcoming space where my sexual orientation is something I can celebrate as opposed to something which is just tolerated: where I can be ‘out and proud’. The rainbow flag flies high on IDAHOBIT, and the university quite rightly celebrates each year the contribution of its then Chancellor, Lord Wolfenden, to the acceptance of gay people through his authorship of the famous Wolfenden Report. 

Shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown, I was fortunate to marry my husband (and now law school colleague), Professor David Bilchitz, in a progressive Jewish egalitarian Vegan gay wedding in South Africa. David and I wrote about our experiences in the Jewish Report.

I am passionate about advancing LGBTQIA+ rights in the UK and globally, especially in respect of ensuring asylum-seekers' access to protection for persecution and in working with Parliamentarians, civil society organisations, practitioners, and recognised refugees.   

When it comes to my Jewish identity, given its distressing prevalence, I feel blessed to have never experienced antisemitism on campus. Unlike other institutions, Reading does not hold lectures, seminars, or examinations on the Jewish Sabbath, and when I flagged up the challenge posed for prospective Jewish students with holding open and visit days only on Saturdays, additional dates were added. Hence, it strikes me that the question at – and for Reading – is not about willingness to accommodate, but about awareness and visibility: the public calendar which the University follows is centred around Christian holidays (notably Christmas and Easter) whereas festivals of minority faiths like Divali, Eid, or Yom Kippur are not publicly recognised. I know that this can and will change. 

When the TAEDS courses closed down in 2018, I started lecturing initially for BA Education Studies and more recently became the SEND Pathway Lead for the PGCE students specialising in SEN education.

Since 2017, I have been working for the Institution-Wide Language Programme, within the Department of Languages and Culture, where I have taught BSL at all three stages with its linguistics and history, and had very positive feedback.

I'm originally from London and my parents were from the Middle East; my father was born in Egypt and my mother in Syria. I remember seeing Arabic, French and Hebrew being spoken. I knew a little, however I fully absorbed the Middle Eastern culture, particularly cooking.

I'm the only deaf person in my family. My family never learned any sign language, so I relied on lip reading. I've had some fantastic students; most aren't deaf, but they have a passion for teaching and learning sign language.

A lot of my students have become teachers, usually in special needs education. Others have become interpreters, actors and drama therapists. I'd like to think I've played a small part in their career choices.

For example, there are days when I work at home so I can pick up my five-year-old son from school. My electric car cuts down on carbon emissions but unfortunately not on travel time; I still have at least an hour-long commute each way, so being able to work from home on certain days really helps to fit everything in.

There’s a lot of support for doing things differently at the University, and from my mentor and manager. In addition to flexible working, I also benefit from interdisciplinary research interactions through my work with the Centre for Past Climate Change, and I’m co-chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee in the School of Mathematical, Physical, and Computational Science.

Read more about flexible working in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences.