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Event programme
- Monday 7 June: Getting educated about decolonised pedagogy
Panel event: Getting educated about decolonising the curriculum
14:00-15:00
This event is open to all UCL staff and students.
“Does Decolonising the Curriculum go far enough in making concrete change or is the decolonising agenda a tokenistic “virtual signal” by universities?"
- Speakers: Manjeet Ramgotra, Toyin Agbetu, Harshadha Balasubramanian, Mahalia Changlee and Priya Raghavan.
- Chair: Professor Sasha Roseneil (Dean of the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences, Pro Vice-Provost Equity and Inclusion)
Over the last five years, decolonising the curriculum has become a consistent part of mainstream dialogue around the educational system. The Black Lives Matter movement and an increase in student campaigns has created an environment where decolonising the curriculum has become an expectation students have of their university faculty.
Regardless, uncertainty around what decolonising the curriculum consists of and whether such efforts are enough are attitudes present for students and staff today. This panel discussion event will provide an opportunity for staff and students to investigate these questions with people who specialise in this subject area and have been vocal about decolonised curricula in Higher Education over the last few years.
- Tuesday 8 June: Decolonised pedagogy in practice
Faculty Brainstorm Event: Decolonising the curriculum in practice and pedagogy
12:00-13:30
This event is open to all UCL staff and students.
Speakers: Dr Adam Runacres (AnthroSchools), Alice Riddell & Ioanna Manoussaki-Adamopoulou (PAPER project), Dr Luke de Noronha (Sarah Parker Raymond Center), Amelia Odida (UCL Political Science), Monica De Quinto Schneider, Katie Sperring, Jessica Sultan and Obioma Egemonye (UCL Political Science), Dr Victoria Showunmi (UCL IOE), Dr Jacob Paskins (UCL History of Art), Dr Jon Chandler and Professor Margot Finn (UCL History), Dr Gareth Breen (UCL Anthropology), Professor Tariq Jazeel (UCL Geography), Professor Anson Mackay (UCL Geography).
There is an ongoing effort to decolonise both the content and the way we teach across UCL. On day two of our Decolonising the Curriculum Week, we are running a quickfire mini conference packed with new and progressive ideas from staff and students at UCL about their efforts to decolonise pedagogy and praxis in the academy. The conference will focus and reflect on these projects and initiatives, the ways in which they have advanced the drive towards decolonization and how best we can learn from them and continue into the future.
Find out more about the speakers.
Decolonising our curricula and pedagogies: two workshops
Workshop one: 'Creating a Future' - 14:00-15:00
Workshop two: 'Finetuning our Practice' - 15:15-16:30
NB Attendance at one will not be a requirement for the other but they will be aligned.
This event is open to all UCL staff and students.
These sessions are open to anyone involved in education (and most definitely open to students), and will focus on deciphering and deciding on practical actions for decolonisation. The workshop has been developed specifically with the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences in mind and will be delivered by Arena colleague, Dr Jason Davies, who heads up UCL’s Liberating the Curriculum initiative and runs Inclusive Curriculum workshops for interested colleagues across the university.
At its root, decolonising the curriculum is about making what we teach, and how we teach it, more responsive to the problems of colonial and racialised privilege and discrimination within our teaching practice. It is not a set of prescriptions but a set of suggestions and ideas for colleagues and students to think through, individually and collectively. It is hoped that attendance at this workshop will stimulate reflection, dialogue and changes in educational practice.
We are incredibly grateful to Jason Davies for agreeing to do this. Places on this workshop are open to staff and students working on curriculum change in their departments but also other staff supporting learning in any way (e.g. administrators, library staff and so on). Places will be limited (so book early!). Some pre-reading may be suggested nearer the time.
- Wednesday 9 June: The BAME attainment gap
The BAME attainment gap conference
09:40-16:30
This event is open to all UCL staff and students.
On day three we will be joining UCL’s conference on the BAME attainment gap. UCL Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences has a small but significant BAME attainment gap across the faculty, which is something we are committed to addressing. Student engagement is recognised as a key factor in successful student outcomes and building learning communities and a sense of belonging within departments is recognised as a key component of this. A decolonised curriculum is essential if we are to build this sense of community and belonging amongst our BAME community.
The Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences' Decolonising the Curriculum project team 2021 will also be presenting at this conference, talking about the project and how the week has progressed so far and sharing our experiences with the wider UCL community
We hope that as many staff and students will attend this conference as possible.
- Thursday 10 June: Decolonisation in the classroom
Micro-aggressions workshop - unfortunately this event has been cancelled.
10:00-11:30
"Is Uni Racist?" Documentary screening and Q&A session
Documentary screening: 14:00-14:45
Q&A: 15:00-16:00
This event is open to all UCL staff and students.
On Day 4 of Decolonising the Curriculum Week, we are going to be looking at how we can decolonise the classroom.
We will be screening the BBC documentary titled “Is Uni racist?” - “a punchy and important watch, Gwendolyn Smith” (i-Newspaper) followed by a Q&A with guest Gracie Oddie-James who featured on the documentary. Gracie will be sharing why she chose to participate in the documentary and her experience of racism within higher education.
The documentary will also serve as a base for participants to reflect on their own time at UCL and how UCL can be a better environment for students of all backgrounds. The Decolonising the Curriculum team will report findings of this discussion to UCL Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and findings will also be fed into the SHS Faculty EDI action plan.
The film will be screened from 2pm, but if you wish to view the film in your own time (available to view on BBC iPlayer or through BoB National (Box of Broadcasts) which UCL has an institutional subscription to), you can just join us for the Q&A session.
Please note you will need to register via both links below if you would like to attend the documentary screening and the Q&A session.
We look forward to seeing you there!
- Friday 11 June: Decolonising Disciplines and what next?
Decolonising Disciplines; a conversation
14:30-16:00
This event is open to all UCL staff and students.
To round off this decolonisation week we bring you a relaxed and conversational dialogue to really get ideas flowing in a safe yet engaging space. We have invited speakers who have creating modules or curricula that attempt to decolonise their own disciplines thereby providing a critical approach to their own academic fields. Come, listen and ask them questions as they discuss how they have done this, the challenges they have faced and where they are going next.
Speakers: Professor Eleanor Robson (UCL History), Dr Ralph Wilde (UCL Laws) and Dr Ludovic Coupaye (UCL Anthropology).