Freshers' drinking dialogues

This was a co-created dialogue project involving a group of 36 students designing an intervention which involved face-to face meetings with 229 Freshers in their own student flats. These student dialogue facilitators named themselves the Linkers because they link students together in a way that gives them the confidence not to feel they have to get drunk to fit in at university (and they designed a logo and corporate identity for themselves with the help of QMU graphic designer Elspeth Talbot).

The co-creation was facilitated by the students’ participation in intense dialogue sessions at QMU facilitated by Emma Wood and Magda Pieczka. During these, the students shared their own experiences and stories in a ‘safe space’. In subsequent sessions the Linkers identified the reasons that they think cause Freshers to feel that they have to get drunk to fit in (or feel isolated if they don’t want to drink). They focused on the awkwardness many experience in trying to make friends. The Linkers created their own handbook called ‘How to be a Student’ with all the tips and advice they feel Freshers need. They turned up at the Freshers’ flats in halls with breakfast and made them hot drinks whilst they facilitated a 50 minute discussion involving around 10 Freshers at a time (which they named the PJ Dialogues as the students were in their pyjamas). They used the handbook as a tool on which to base the dialogue and left a copy behind for future reference.