VIRTUAL EVENT: Colonial legacies in ‘academic quality’ structures

Much attention has rightfully been focused in recent years on the colonial legacies apparent in the curricula of universities, with students around the world protesting the continued dominance of theories, authors and perspectives from the “Global North” and related lack of acknowledgement of contextual realities, marginalised voices or local understandings.

What has largely been lacking from the debate, however, is an acknowledgement of how colonial and neocolonial legacies within the structures of quality (at both the institutional and system levels) continue to limit decolonisation efforts.

Some such legacies are inherited, but many have been more recently introduced and/or exacerbated via the diffusion of global norms related to excellence and academic quality. Ironically, these legacies often limit the possibilities of local innovations which could significantly improve quality. This webinar will specifically discuss how these dynamics play out within two key quality structures – assessment and accreditation.

This event will be particularly useful for those interested in racism, coloniality, and global higher education.

Speakers

• Chair: Paul Ashwin, Lancaster University
• Gerardo Blanco, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College
• Rebecca Schendel, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College 

Racism and Coloniality in Global Higher Education series

This Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) webinar series explores what global racial equity would mean for the future of higher education and addresses the challenges of decolonising research systems and pedagogic cultures. 

Aim

The aim is to promote knowledge of, and commitment to, anti-racism within universities, and amongst researchers and policymakers. Contributors will reflect on colonial institutional legacies, racialised institutional cultures, and the power of ‘whiteness’, drawing on empirical research in a range of higher education contexts. 

Questions to address

• Why are the legacies of colonialism often overlooked, or erased, in favour of a ‘colour blind’ analysis of global higher education’s hierarchies and inequalities?
• Is the institutional racism of today’s universities a historical legacy or a resurgent cultural dynamic, intersected by the geopolitics of internationalisation?
• What can we learn about the structural inequalities of the global knowledge system from critical geographers and scholars in science and technology studies?
• What forms of profound and transformational change would be needed to create racial equity in global higher education and research?
• How are universities, faculties and students, addressing these colonial legacies?
• Can owning ‘whiteness’ and acknowledging white privilege – along with the JEDI agenda (justice, equality, diversity and inclusion) – help move these debates forward?

More events in this series

Tuesday 7 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Racism and coloniality in global higher education

Thursday 9 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Affirmative action and transformation in South African higher education

Tuesday 14 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Dismantling the colonial university: defiant scholarship and decolonial thought in Africa

Thursday 16 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Learning whiteness: material, epistemic and affective relations of higher education

Tuesday 28 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• On decentralising: epistemic authority beyond the centers of knowledge production

Thursday 30 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Towards ‘decolonising’ curriculum and pedagogy (DCP) across disciplines and global higher education contexts: a critical synthesis.

Links

• Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE)
• Department of Education, Practice and Society