Decolonization: Examples of Decolonizing the Curriculum

What does it mean to “teach in and for freedom”? What does it look like to create liberatory spaces centered around the lives and needs of faculty and students of color? How do we sustain and defend such feminist and anti-racist teaching against threats of institutional cooptation, censure, and exploitation?

Welcome to this podcast series produced by The Race Equality and Anti-Racist Sub-Committee (REAR) at The University of Edinburgh in collaboration with Teaching Matters where we hear from different academics at the University about what Decolonising the Curriculum means for them and how they have put this into practice in their learning and teaching or research. They also share some readings they have found useful.

From the website: In the context of our ongoing work in inclusion, diversity, and equity, many groups on campus have been discussing the cultural and racial perspectives that have shaped many of our disciplines and how to counteract them. Here is a chance to learn how three colleagues — Constanza Ocampo-Raeder (SOAN), Dan Hernandez (BIOL), and Kelly Connole (ARTS) — have approached diversifying and decolonizing the scope, content, and dynamics of their courses and to join in a conversation with colleagues to want to think about how to do this for their own courses.

Decolonizing Your Curriculum, Part I
Dominique Vargas, Postdoctoral Associate for ND Learning
Alex Oxner, Academic Support Coordinator, Vanderbilt University

Join UNC faculty and staff for a discussion about how student benefits from instructors decolonizing their curriculum.

UNC faculty members to hear how they have worked to decolonize curriculum in their classrooms and their experiences with how this affects students.

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, department chair of Native American Studies at Cal Poly and author of we are dancing for you: Native Feminisms & the Revitalization of Women’s Coming-of-Age Ceremonies for an introduction to decolonizing the curriculum.

Decolonization is a word that is often met with resistance. Too often discussions about decolonization lead to unnecessary fear or hostility. There is another possibility. Decolonization can be an invitation for all Canadians to be a part of something good and to leave behind a better version of Canada for generations to come. Kevin Lamoureux is a Faculty member at the University of Winnipeg and a well known public speaker. He has served as Associate Vice President for the University of Winnipeg, Education Lead for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and as Scholar in Residence for several school divisions.

From the University of South Carolina Center for Teaching Excellence