Decolonizing the University: A Digital Toolkit

The University of Connecticut's Office of Global Affairs and University of Nottingham hosted a three-part virtual series entitled, “Is the University Colonial? Critical Conversations on Its Past, Present, and Future” in academic year 2020-2021 and a workshop "Decolonizing the University: Translating Theory into Practice" in October 2021 building on the previous panel discussions.

During the panel series, speakers examined the role that universities have had in cultivating racism and (settler) colonialism, the present challenges they face in disbanding unequal and oppressive narratives, as well as the future opportunities to contribute meaningfully to an anti-racist and anti-colonial agenda. Subsequently, in the workshop scholars and practitioners from UConn, UoN and global partners discussed institutional objectives, shared best practices and ideas on how to develop toolkits and action plans for decolonization in higher education. This toolkit is the outcome of these events and discussions.

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Concepts in Decolonizing the University

The following set of videos are short sections of the 2020-2021 panel series, broken down by concepts or questions.

What is Colonialsim?

Speaker:
Onyeka Nubia, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Teaching at University of Nottingham; Visiting Research Fellow at Edge Hill University and University of Huddersfield

The Colonial Roots of the University & its Connections to Slavery

Speakers:
Dana Francisco Miranda, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UMass Boston and Affiliate Research Scholar in Philosophy at University of Connecticut

Gina Higginbottom, Emeritus Professor of Ethnicity & Health, University of Nottingham

Dispossession, Deceit & Erasure: The University's Path to Power in the Americas

Speaker:
Sandy Grande, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut

For the Public Good or Private Gain? Understanding the Morrill Act of 1862

Speaker:
Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, Professor of History & Latinx Studies and Hartford Campus Director, University of Connecticut

Glenn Mitoma, Director of Dodd Human Rights Impact and Assistant Professor of Human Rights Education

Knowledge as a Tool of (Dis)Empowerment

Speaker:
Lewis Gordon, Professor & Head, Department of Philosophy, University of Connecticut

Cecile Wright, Professor, School of Sociology & Social Policy, University of Nottingham

Diversity Equity & Inclusion

Speaker:
Franklin Tuitt, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, University of Connecticut

The University’s Role in the Perpetuation of Racism

Speaker:
Cecile Wright, Professor, School of Sociology & Social Policy, University of Nottingham

The University vs. Learning/Knowledge Community

Speaker:
Lewis Gordon, Professor & Head, Department of Philosophy, University of Connecticut

The Pedagogical Imperative

Speaker:
Lewis Gordon, Professor & Head, Department of Philosophy, University of Connecticut

Should we have Black Studies? An Illustration of the Pedagogical Imperative

Speaker:
Lewis Gordon, Professor & Head, Department of Philosophy, University of Connecticut

The Achievement Gap

Speaker:
Gina Higginbottom, Emeritus Professor of Ethnicity & Health, University of Nottingham

Would Adding Colonial History to the Curriculum Help Combat Colonial Structures?

Speakers:
Lewis Gordon, Professor & Head, Department of Philosophy, University of Connecticut

Sandy Grande, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut

Cecile Wright Professor, School of Sociology & Social Policy, University of Nottingham

Decolonizing Healthcare

Speaker:
Kathryn Haley, 2nd year graduate entry medicine student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Medicine & Health Sciences

Gina Higginbottom, Emeritus Professor of Ethnicity & Health, University of Nottingham

Decolonizing the Mind

Speaker:
Michael Bradford, Vice Provost for Faculty, Staff & Student Development and Professor of Dramatic Arts, University of Connecticut

Saran Stewart, Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration & Director of Global Education for the Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

A Conversation on Identities in the Arts & Humanities

Speaker:
Hannah Robbins, Assistant Professor in Popular Music, Faculty of Arts, University of Nottingham

Political Ideologies that Perpetute Colonial Narratives

Speaker:
Saran Stewart, Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration & Director of Global Education for the Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

Is the University Colonial?: Critical Conversations on Its Past - Part 1 - Post Event Q&A

Lewis, I am excited by your idea of a ‘learning community’ and ‘ developing a relationship with reality’. A womanist approach is developing well. But how do we get white males on our side inside the UK university? Any thoughts here? – Jan Etienne

One thing I tend to find frustrating about "First World"-centered decolonisation is that I always wonder, where are the scholars who are located in what is frequently termed the Third World? - Katy

Many phrases used in University have strong links to Colonialism e.g. First Class, Second Class, Masters. What alternatives could you see to be used? How can the conversation and more importantly action be continued after this session? - Anonymous

As a student of Engineering I often find it hard to understand how decolonisation can occur within this field of study. I was wondering how this can be achieved beyond looking at appropriate technologies and how can myself as an outsider attain indigenous knowledge systems without colonising it myself? - Anonymous

How can universities confront their colonial past in a political context where governments often already treat them with skepticism on cultural matters, and where acknowledgement of colonial wrongs is often dismissed as "attempting to erase history"? - Chris Sims, University of Nottingham

Is the University Colonial?: Critical Conversations on Its Present - Part 2 - Post Event Q&A

Who does the "burden" of decolonising fall on? From my own experience at university it's almost always POC students who actively challenge the notion that what we are being taught is not the "objective status quo". Also, who is the right person to put pressure on? - Jess

How are universities in the United States confronting their roots in slavery/colonialism as institutions? Are there lessons for the United Kingdom?

Conversations regarding decolonisation in university typically centre on changing the content of what is taught/diversifying the student/academic body. Is this useful without changing the methods through which we are taught? For example, standardised textbooks or the way lectures are delivered. - Esther

More recently there’s been an emphasis on decolonization in higher education. Why a sudden apparent interest in decolonizing higher education?

What are the challenges faced by both the United Kingdom and the United States universities that prevent us from decolonizing the curriculum and preparing higher education graduates?

What are successful examples of decolonizing university department? What made these efforts successful? How, if at all, are students centered and/or involved in decolonizing higher education institutions?

Question 7

Can universities be decolonized if the societies where they are located are not?

Question 8

Given the Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) attainment gap you referred to in your talk, are there any statistics or research to support an awareness of BAME students or aspiring graduates that the attainment gap exists?

View the answer here 

Other Resources

Articles

Andrews, Abigail. “Constructing Mutuality: The Zapatistas’ Transformation of Transnational Activist Power Dynamics.Latin American Politics and Society. University of Miami, Spring 2010.

Anyon, Jean. "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work." Journal of Education (1980) Vol. 162, No. 1: 67-92.

Gordon, Jane Anna. "Beyond Anti-Elitism: Black Studies and the Pedagogical Imperative." Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies (2010) Vol. 32, No.2: 129-144.

Gordon, Jane Anna. "Creolizing educational practices." Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies (2018) Vol. 40, No. 1: 58-68.

Gordon, Lewis R. "Disciplining as a Human Science." Shifting Corporealities in Contemporary Performance, October 4, 2018: 233-250.

Hanson, Molly. "UK medical student creates handbook to show clinical symptoms on darker skin." Big Think, July 22, 2020.

Hui, T. Keung. "NC Rejects Native American Charter School. Was School too Negative About US History?" The News & Observer, December 5, 2019.

Keme, Emil, and Adam Coon. "For Abiayala to Live, the Americas Must Die: Toward a Transhemispheric Indigeneity." Native American and Indigenous Studies (2018) Vol. 5, No. 1 : 42-68.

Lee, Robert, and Tristan Ahtone. "Land Grab Universities: Expropriated Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system." High Country News, March 30, 2020.

Porter, Jody. "Northern Ontario First Nation Makes History with Its Community-based Curriculum." CBC, August 30, 2020.

Quijano, Anibal, and Michael Ennis. "Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America." Nepantla: Views from South. (2000) Vol. 1, No. 3: 533-580.

Rivera Cusicanqui, Silvia. "Ch’ixinakaxutxiwa: A Reflection on the Practices and Discourses of Decolonization." South Atlantic Quarterly (2012) Vol. 111, No. 1: 95–109.

Robbins, Hannah. "If the university is colonial, what can our institutions do to bring about change?" University of Nottingham Vision Blog.

Sepúlveda III, Enrique. “Toward a Pedagogy of Acompañamiento: Mexican Migrant Youth Writing from the Underside of Modernity.Harvard Educational Review (2011) Vol 81, Issue 3: 550–573.

Tuck, Eve and K. Wayne Yang. "Decolonization is Not a Metaphor." Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education and Society (2012) Vol. 1, No. 1: 1-40

Wolfe, Patrick. "Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native." Journal of Genocide Research (2006) Vol. 8, No. 4: 387-409

Books

Betasamosake Simpson, Leanne. As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance (Indigenous Americas). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, October 2017.

Burman, Erica. Fanon, Education, Action: Child as Method. New York, NY: Routledge 2019.

Césaire, Aimé, Joan Pinkham, and Robin D.G. Kelley. Discourse on Colonialism. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2000.

Frantz Fanon. The Wretched of the Earth. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2005.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2000

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Heart. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.

Gordon, Lewis R. Disciplinary Decadence: Living Thought in Trying Times. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007.

Grande, Sandy. Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.

Hall, Gary. The Uberfication of the University. Forerunners: Ideas First Series. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, August 2016.

Harney, Stefano and Fred Moden. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study. Autonomedia, 2013.

Hooks, Bell. Teaching Community A Pedagogy of Hope. New York, NY: Routledge Taylor Francis, 2003.

Klinenberg, Eric. Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic. New York, NY: Penguin Random House, 2019.

Mignolo, Walter D. , and Catherine E. Walsh. On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018.

Shield, Alayna, et al. Education in Movement Spaces : Standing Rock to Chicago Freedom Square. New York, NY: Routledge, 2020.

Spooner, Marc and James McNinch. Dissident Knowledge in Higher Education. Regina, Canada: University of Regina Press, 2018.

Thomas, Dave and Jason Arday. Doing Equity and Diversity for Success in Higher Education: Redressing Structural Inequalities in the Academy. London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.

Williams, Bianca C., Dian D. Squire and Frank A. Tuitt. Plantation Politics and Campus Rebellions: Power, Diversity, and the Emancipatory Struggle in Higher Education (SUNY series, Critical Race Studies in Education). Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2021.

Woodson, Carter G. and Tony Darnell. The Mis-Education of the Negro. Suwanee, GA: 12th Media Services, 2017.

 

Podcasts

Rethinking Black-Jewish Relations featuring Marc Dollinger & Lewis R. Gordon, Adventures in Jewish Studies Podcast, Season 2, episode 7, American Jewish Studies Association (2020).

Examining the Red Pedagogy Indigenous Curriculum with Art Hughes, featuring Sandy Grande (Quechua) and Brenda Dial Deese (Lumbee), Native America Calling: Your National Electronic Talking Circle, (December 3, 2019).

Lewis R. Gordon “A Conversation on Freedom, Justice, and Decolonization,” Decoloniality/Southern Epistemology Series, Penn State University (March 12, 2021).

“We Need a Radical Imagination,” Lewis Gordon interviewed by Wandia Njoya for The Elephant (July 4, 2020).

Academy Dialogues: Owning Our Stories | Lulu Wang, Misan Sagay, Elle-Máijá Tailfathers & More (September 3, 2020).

“Fanon, the Teacher,” Frantz Fanon: A Colloquium, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research (presented on March 5, 2020; posted April 25, 2020). Q&A

“How to Make a Dress: Domestic Labor, Internationalism, and the Radical Pedagogy of Elizabeth Catlett,” The People's Forum (February 29, 2020).

"The Harsh Truth About Thanksgiving" NowThis. (November 28, 2019)

 

“Thinking from & within the Global South: Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Lewis R. Gordon & Maria Paula Meneses in Conversation,” CES TV (November 10, 2019).

“An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People,” The People's Forum (September 27, 2019).

“Decolonizing the American University | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o,” Yale Council on African Studies (March 18, 2021).