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Sumeya is a Senior International Student Lecturer, based in the Faculty of Business and Law. Sumeya's role focuses on enhancing the quality of the international student experience and leading staff development initiatives in relation to learning and teaching pedagogy for international students. 

Sumeya's research expertise includes the internationalisation of higher education, de/postcolonial studies and inclusive practice. Her research adopts a critical perspective and a counter-storytelling approach to disrupt deficit narratives of international students in UKHE. 

Sumeya is a Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Education Academy Fellow and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has also held the position of a Fair Outcomes Champion for the Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ project. 

Institute for Research in Criminology, Education and Social Justice

• Hall, R. Ansley, L., Loonat, S., Nemouchi, L., Al-Saedi, O., Ashrafali, H., Khalifa, D., Shah, M., Shifan, S., Maryam, Y. and The Aziz Foundation (2025). Being and Becoming: British Muslim Students’ First-Year Journeys in Higher Education. Æß²ÊÖ±²¥/The Aziz Foundation.
• Hall, R., Maryam, Y., and Loonat, S. (2025) The Impact of the Current Student Loans Regime on Muslim Student Engagement and Retention in English Higher Education. Leicester: Æß²ÊÖ±²¥.
• Loonat, S.  (2024) For students, by students: building belonging and community for international students at Æß²ÊÖ±²¥. Case study in: Jisc (2024) Sector examples of improved practice in supporting the digital experience of international students (ISDX Briefing Paper 5). Bristol: Jisc, p. 8. Available at:
• Loonat, S., & Hall, R. (2024). Disciplinary guide: Decolonial Studies. Research with International Students. Available at: 
• Hall, R., Ansley, L., Connolly, P., Loonat, S., Patel, K., & Whitham, B. (2021). Struggling for the anti-racist university: learning from an institution-wide response to curriculum decolonisation. Teaching in Higher Education, 26(7–8), 902–919. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1911987

• Internationalisation strategies in UK Higher Education
• Experiences of minoritised students in UKHE
• De/postcolonial studies
• Decolonising and anti-racism in the University
• Raciolinguistic ideologies in the context of UKHE

• Inclusive pedagogy
• Decolonising higher education 
• Academic Writing
• Learning Development

• BA Hons
• MA 
• PGCLTHE
• Ph.D.

• Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy
• Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Education Academy Fellow
• Leicester Castle Business School, Business School of the year, Highly Commended Award,  PIEoneer Awards, 2025
• Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥, Highly Commended at the International Green Gowns Awards, Social Justice Award, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Sustainability category, 2024.
• Faculty of Business and Law BAL of the Ball Awards 2023- Outstanding Contribution to International Engagement Award
• Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CAITE) 2023 Winner, Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ 
• Green Gown Awards 2023 Winner, Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ 

• QAA International Insights membership
• UKAT (UK Advising and Tutoring) membership

Principal Investigator

• QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Partnership project, Mapping staff support to enhance the experiences of international students, with Manchester Metropolitan University, and the universities of Manchester and Wolverhampton, 2025 [£10,000].

Co-investigator

• The Aziz Foundation, Æß²ÊÖ±²¥, Muslim Friendly Universities Audit, 2024 [£20,523].
• Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ funded,Academic Innovation Project 2023-2024, Pedagogical uses of generative AI tools to enhance the Academic English skills of international students (in collaboration with colleagues from the Centre of English Language Learning and Library and Student Services)
• Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ funded, Academic Innovation Project 2023-2024, The impact on Muslim students of the current Student Loans regime on student engagement and retention in Higher Education (with Professor Richard Hall and Yusraa Maryam)

• Loonat, S. (2025) Reimagining the international student experience: building belonging and community, QAA [International Insights, online]
• Loonat, S. (2025) Building Belonging for International Students, JISC Digital Experiences for International Students, Birmingham.
• Hall, R., Ansley, L. Loonat, S., and Nemouchi, L. (2025). How British Muslim, first-year students experience their Muslimness in HE spaces, Aziz Foundation and Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education Conference. University of York.
• Loonat, S., and Hall, R. (2024) Reimagining pedagogies with international students: Anti-racist perspectives. Decolonising Academic Practice Workshop, Birmingham City University
• Loonat, S., and Hall, R. (2023) Reimagining research with international students: Anti-racist perspectives. Research with International Students Conference, University of Manchester 
• Loonat, S. (2023) Decolonising the international student experience, Reimagining Higher Education: Journeys of Decolonising, Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ conference.
• Loonat, S & Towlson, K (2022) Creating an anti-racist university: DÆß²ÊÖ±²¥ two years on, sharing progress and impact, Advance HE Learning and Teaching Conference, July 2022
• Basra, H, & Loonat, S (2022) Decolonising More Than Just the Curriculum-Tips and Tricks, Nottingham Trent University and London Metropolitan University, June 2022
•  Basra, H, & Loonat, S (2022), A Toolkit to Build an Anti-Racist University-Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Tips, Tricks and Takeaways, Æß²ÊÖ±²¥, May 2022
• Loonat, S, Cai, X, Zhang, D (2022) Building a sense of belonging for international students: insights from International Student Lecturers, UKAT Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, April 2022
• Basra, H, & Loonat, S (2022), Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥-Sharing Good Practice York, St John University, February 2022
• Hall, R & Loonat, S (2022) NHS Pharmacy Education Summit: EDI, Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥: Building the Anti Racist University
• Basra, H, Croft, M, Loonat, S & Towlson K (2021) Keynote: Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥: Building the Anti Racist University, Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Business and Law TaLEnt conference, July 2021
• Basra, H, Croft, M, Loonat, S & Towlson K (2021) Decolonising Æß²ÊÖ±²¥: How we can make our teaching truly inclusive, Advance HE Learning & Teaching Conference July 2021
• Basra, H & Loonat, S (2021) Creating an anti-racist classroom, Race Equality Colloquium-Decolonising Pedagogy, Advance HE, June 2021
• Loonat, S, (2021) Language and Learning: Breaking Barriers to Success, Open University Inclusive SIG, April 2021
• Loonat, S, Cai, X, Zhang, D (2021) Language and Learning: Breaking Barriers to Success, UKAT Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, April 2021
• Craig, J, Honeyman, V, Loonat, S, Statham, A, Williams, H (2021) Roundtable: Futures of Political Studies Education in the UK, Political Studies Association, March 2021
• Basra, H, & Loonat, S (2021) Decolonising More Than Just the Curriculum, Midlands Academic Practice Group, University of Birmingham, March 2021.
• Loonat, S, & Towlson, K (2021) Storytelling as the practice of freedom: A transgressive pedagogy to enable decolonising in the classroom, Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Learning & Teaching Conference, February 2021
• Basra, H, & Loonat, S (2021) Developing an Anti-Racist Pedagogy through a PGCAP. Edinburgh Napier Learning & Teaching Seminar Series
• Loonat, S, Cai, X & Zhang, D (2021) What you say matters: assessing unconscious bias in academic language, Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Learning and Teaching Conference, September 2020