Symposium: Decolonising the University Curriculum
Macadam Building, Strand Campus, London
For educators who are involved in teaching and curriculum design. Please book your ticket. Places are limited.
You are warmly invited to participate in the upcoming Decolonising the University Curriculum Symposium. The symposium aims to discuss diverse decolonising efforts among UK higher education institutions and learn from these ongoing initiatives. We hope for this symposium to be interactive and allow participants to “experiment” with the available resources, such as toolkits and archives, and engage with case studies to bring decolonisation more into their teaching practices and curriculum. We will discuss the limits of our curriculum design and pedagogic conventions and think collectively about addressing the barriers to decolonising our curricula and teaching.
The main themes of this symposium are:
- Decolonising our curriculum
- Decolonising our pedagogy and teaching practices
Speakers
A panel of guest speakers will introduce a few decolonising curriculum initiatives from different UK universities and invite you to engage with these initiatives. We are thrilled to have the following insightful speakers presenting at our symposium.
Michael Cole is the Principal Teaching Fellow in EDI (Undergraduate Primary Care Education) at Imperial College London. Through his ongoing PhD, Michael has authored several publications on structural humility and anti-colonial, anti-racist pedagogy. He also provides industry consultancy on best practice pedagogies, equitable cultures and health justice.
Dr Salim Hashmi is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at KCL. Dr Hashmi leads and teaches on modules related to developmental psychology. His research includes children’s play, imagination, and interactions with technology. He also has experience in social understanding, executive function, and longitudinal study designs. Salim has an interest in inclusive education, decolonising curriculum and student experience.
Dr Laila Kadiwal is an Associate Professor in Education and International Development at UCL. Her research examines racism, the weaponisation of identities by far-right authoritarian actors, and the politics of knowledge production in education and international development. Dr Kadiwal uses a decolonial lens to explore how these issues apply to education, refugees, climate injustice, minorities, emergencies, and conflict.
Dr Laura Key is a Lecturer in Academic Practice and part of the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Team at York St John University. She has worked in UK HE for over 15 years, currently focusing particularly on anti-racism and inclusive practice. Over the past two years, she has co-convened the Discussing Decolonisation event series at York St John University (together with Lucy Potter), and is also co-chair of YSJ’s Anti-Racism and Decolonisation Community of Praxis.
Gabrielle Nieuwoudt is a Research Assistant at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), coordinating non-commercial studies in the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, where she also acts as the Centre’s CEDI deputy representative. Gabi leads and spearheads projects and initiatives celebrating intersectional lived experiences, centring anti-racism and decolonisation, and promoting community building and wellbeing.
Dr Agata Pacho is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, specialising in the sociology of health. Dr Pacho’s research focuses on the social and cultural dimensions of health, with a particular emphasis on amplifying the voices of marginalised populations, including individuals living with HIV, women from racialised minority communities, and those experiencing poverty. She volunteers with the Decolonising the Global Health at LSHTM group.
Dr Renginee Pillay is an Associate Professor in Law at the University of Greenwich. She holds an LLB from LSE and Political Science, an LLM in International Business Law from UCL, and a PhD in Law from the University of Kent. She leads and supports research and teaching practices that strengthen decolonial and anti-racist approaches to legal pedagogy. She co-leads the RADLAW (Reimagining Anti-Racist and Decolonial Law) Collective, a space to share good practice and case studies of decolonial and anti-racist education approaches.
Dr Mariam Sbaiti is a Senior Teaching Fellow in Global Health and Director of the intercalated BSc at Imperial College. Her interests are in critical pedagogy, interdisciplinary approaches to global health education and issues of epistemic power related to the curriculum. Mariam experiments with pedagogical approaches which attempt to address/acknowledge structural inequalities in the sector. Mariam is currently researching student experiences of belonging and minoritisation in global health education.
Dr Nancy Tamimi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine (GHSM) at KCL. Nancy has a diverse research background, having worked in the Middle East, the Gulf Peninsula, and the UK and published on various topics, including tobacco control, mental health, and strengthening research capacity in conflict-affected areas. She leads work on decolonisation and anti-racism in the GHSM department. Her latest publication, “Towards Decolonising Higher Education: A Case Study from a UK University”, was published by Springer Nature.
Programme
This is an in-person event, taking place in MB2.1 in the Macadam Building, Strand Campus.
09:30 – 9:55: Welcome and Refreshments
10:00 – 10:40: Nancy Tamimi - Exploring the Decolonising Global Health Archive
In this session, Nancy will introduce the archive founded within the GHSM to collate resources to help educators learn about decolonisation and find materials to incorporate into their teaching and curriculum. Time will be allocated to explore the archive and find materials relevant to different disciplines.
10.45 – 11.25: Michael Cole and Mariam Sbaiti - Cultural and Structural Humility - Sharing Decolonising Possibilities
Join Mariam and Michael to share in challenges and possibilities of engaging in anti-colonial approaches in higher education. Through autoethnographic insights and the use of an interactive, solutions-focused case-study, they will explore how the concept of 'cultural and structural humility' can be useful in co-creating sustainable, authentic change.
11.30 – 12.10: Dr Laura Key - Decolonisation in Higher Education: A Questions-Based Approach
Participants will be invited to engage with a series of prompt questions through which to engage with and consider approaches to decolonising pedagogy and practice within HE. This workshop-based session is inspired by the work of Priyamvada Gopal (2021, p. 880), who suggests that, rather than a box to be ticked or a list of actions to complete, ‘decolonisation in relation to cultural and intellectual work is best posed as a series of questions to address’.
12.15 – 12.55: Salim Hashmi and Gabrielle Nieuwoudt – Decolonisation In
Gabi and Salim will be exploring outcomes based on their work on the Decolonisation In seminar series at the IoPPN. A presentation of two case studies will be followed by an interactive session with the audience, where all in attendance will have the opportunity to reflect on short- and long-term actions and commitments they can make within their curricula and teaching practices.
13:00-13:40: Lunch (provided)
13:45 – 14:25: Renginee Pillay- A Decolonial and Anti-Racist Approach to Legal Pedagogy: Tort Law as Praxis
Dr Renginee will explore the process of designing and developing a decolonial and anti-racist approach into the teaching and study of Tort Law, a foundational module on the Law programmes at the University of Greenwich. She will highlight the obstacles and successes encountered in adapting traditional legal education to include such a perspective. Attendees will gain insight into how to introduce decolonial and anti-racist approaches within traditional disciplines such as law.
14:30 – 15:10: Laila Kadiwal - The Theatre of the Privileged as a theatre-based approach to thinking about decolonising education.
15:15- 15:55: Dr Agata Pacho - Decolonising the Curriculum Toolkit at LSHTM
Dr Pacho will introduce the work undertaken by the LSHTM on decolonising the curriculum, focusing particularly on the Toolkit developed to support staff and students in critically engaging with knowledge practices. The session will highlight the section of the Toolkit that offers a critical lens on the use of imagery in teaching materials. There will be time to reflect on your own materials during the session.
16:00 – 16.25: Plenary Discussion
16:30 – Closing
For more details on the Speakers, please see the Eventbrite Link.
This symposium is organised by Dr.Nancy Tamimi and funded by King’s Academy as part of the King’s Academy Fellows programme 2024-25. Thanks to project assistant Miss Jasmine Kang.
At this event
Senior Lecturer in Global Health & Social Medicine Education
Search for another event