Seminar on Decolonisation of Higher Education: Perspectives from Postcolonial Contexts

On Thursday 13 April, GRÓ GEST and RIKK – Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference, are hosting a seminar titled Decolonisation of Higher Education: Perspectives from Postcolonial Contexts. The seminar is a part of the project “Decolon-Ice: Towards Decolonizing Curricula in Nordic Higher Education“, led by Dr. Giti Chandra, Research Specialist at GEST and RIKK. Participants in the seminar come from GRÓ GEST’s various partner universities and their visit is supported by the Erasmus+ grant scheme.

Presenters include:
Dalea Bean, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss, Lebanese American University
Josephine Ahikire, School of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University, Uganda
Sara Ssali, School of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University, Uganda

Decolonization within academia is the process of interrogating curricula and pedagogy for underlying influences and ideologies arising from a global history of colonization and imperialism. Beyond race and colonial histories, decolonisation recognises structures of power and hierarchies that follow from and reproduce colonial and capitalist systems. These foundational assumptions impact who and what is being taught as well as how and to whom curricula are taught. This impact can take the form of silence and/or misrepresentation within curricula and pedagogy, perpetuating unequal social structures and influencing democracy and equality within the university.

At the seminar the participants will share their perspectives from post-colonial countries and their own experiences within academia in what is often termed as the “Global South” and its relationship with the “Global North”, particularly with regard to curriculum-building, research, and pedagogies in their respective universities.