A new forum was created at the beginning of the first semester to be an inclusive space for staff and students – both those with lived experience and allies - to explore and reflect together on how a decolonised curriculum and pedagogy can be implemented effectively in the School.   

The forum, which represents student voices from across the School, met twice in semester 1. In our first meeting, we each brought and spoke to an object which represented or made us think about something connected to the decolonisation work we are embarking on.  We also got to know each other a little better through an exercise entitled ‘Where do you know from?’ (adapted from an exercise developed by Eugenia Zuroski - see here for further details) to recognise and acknowledge the different knowledge sources and intellectual interests in the room.  In our second meeting, we reflected on an excellent podcast by the Long Time Academy on Decolonising the Future  and created a word wall (see image below) with words which we felt represented decolonisation in Higher Education.  We also started to explore what our hopes were for how the forum can make a sustained and effective change to practices in the School in the coming year.    

In semester two, we will continue on our journey together, pursuing initiatives which will contribute to decolonising curriculum and pedagogy in the School, whilst deepening our own sense of understanding of decolonisation.  We plan to take a ‘field trip’ to The Hunterian to learn from the University’s Ms Zandra Yeoman, Curator of Unfinished Conversations, on a  project entitled ‘Curating Discomfort’ which is designed to aid understanding of the role of museums in reinforcing ideologies of white supremacy.  The forum will also host a staff-student Winter Board Game Night in January/February 2024. With hot chocolate and cake, this game night will engage staff and students from the law school in playing "Brave New World'' - a human rights board game designed by scholars at Nottingham Trent University. The game immerses players in an unequal world in which goblins of various characteristics have different chances to achieve happiness. We will use game play to generate an informal chat about fostering equality within the School of Law. For more info about this night contact Dr Rebecca Sutton (rebecca.sutton@glasgow.ac.uk). 

First published: 26 January 2024

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