Recolouring the Queer
Kiki, a fourth-year student of Economics and International Relations, and BAME representative within the University’s LGBTQ+ Network, explains how their experience of arriving at St Andrews from India as a…
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Light on the darkest night
Celebrated to coincide with the darkest night of the lunar month of Kartik in either late October or early November, Deepawali or Diwali is the Hindu New Year’s Day. It…
Kaleidoscope Alumni Network – what’s in our name? Everything
Catherine Dunford (BSc 2007, PhD 2012) is the former Alumni Relations and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Engagement Coordinator. Here, she reflects on the foundation of the Kaleidoscope Alumni Network,…
Nine special nights
From 15 to 24 October, Hindus around the world will take part in a nine-day celebration dedicated to the worship of the Mother Goddess Durga. Shardiya Navratri is one of…
The night is soft
The UN marks International Moon Day on 20 July to commemorate the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar mission. International Moon Day celebrates the development of lunar exploration by countries…
![Arabic inscription on the wall of [the Great] Mosque, Medina, Sousse. University of St Andrews Libraries and Museums.](https://alumni.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/files/2025/09/Medina-featured.jpg)
Purity of writing encapsulates the purity of the heart
Arabic calligraphy is a major Islamic art form and the practice has both religious and aesthetic importance in the Arab world. The transformative nature of the Arabic alphabet (الأبجدية ) originates in…
Mountain of Blessings
The title ‘Dalai Lama’ is given to the spiritual leader of the Gelug (Yellow Hat) – the newest and the most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.…
On Eid Al Adha, عيد مبارك
Today, millions globally will take part in festivities; dress up in their finest attire, exchange gifts and make and share foods infused with saffron and cardamon that fill the air…
‘I am driving flying dragons’ – Jiu Ge (九歌), Qu Yuan (屈原)
Water is a life-force. It embodies movement, the circulation of energy, and purification. Today, many people in China and the diaspora will take to the waters to race vessels adorned with…
Juneteenth: neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude” – Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States of America Many refer to 19 June as America’s second Independence Day, the day when enslaved…