College of Science & Engineering

Decolonising the curriculum in practice

by David Featherstone

Over the past year a group of staff, students and ex-students in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences have been involved in a collaborative project to deepen engagements with issues relating to decolonising the curriculum. This was funded by a University Student Staff Partnership - Decolonising the Curriculum Stream bid. The project arose from discussions between staff and students about the need to redress key absences in terms of the existing curriculum in geography, for example, in relation to engaging with the depth and legacies of geography’s engagement with empire, and questions relating to ‘race’, gender and sexuality. 

We have worked together on co-producing a course ‘Decolonising Geography: Spaces of Colonialism and Anti-Colonialism’ which will run in semester 2 in 2023-4. The ethos of the system is designed to challenge student-staff power dynamics and seeks to rework the process as well as the content of course development and delivery. The course is also being developed through co-creating teaching materials and identifying key themes through dialogue and will use participatory teaching methods and non-traditional forms of assessment such as zine-making (a small circulation publication). 

Two of us involved in the project, Dave Featherstone and Meli Vesiloudes Bayada, were part of a panel on anti-racism and education at the Govanhill International Festival on August 10^th at the Deepend. This event brought the discussion of our project into dialogue with other antiracist initiatives and campaigns in the city. For more information about the festival follow this link.

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First published: 4 September 2023