DigiTales is half way into the experimental workshop to create ‘Digi Essays’ at Birmingham University. Fifty students from around the world have enjoyed an intense first week at the U21 Summer School. Birmingham University have provided exciting lectures and visits to the East Side giving insights into the diverse population and regeneration going on in Birmingham. There have been masterclasses in photography, writing and visual art. The DigiTales team are here to encourage the students to gather material and to work in groups on creating a script about their experiences here.

In the second week their task is to come up with a coherent piece based on the theme ‘Embracing diversity through creativity, culture and innovation’. The essays will grow out of the themes and thoughts arising in the summerschool blog www.u21summerschool2008.com

Local students have been joined by people from universities within the U21 network around the world including China, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and the US. They come from a broad range of disciplines such as political science, international relations, social sciences, medicine, law, journalism, physics, Chinese literature, sociology, urban and environmental planning, economics, education and architecture. The diversity of the students should in itself result in an eclectic mix of opinions and angles on the subject of ‘diversity through creativity’.