The Eden Centre is hosting a series of seminars and workshops entitled ‘Thinking about Decolonising’, partly inspired by the Inclusive Education Action Plan. The seminars will provide a principled space to discuss the importance of decolonising at the LSE, as well as what decolonising 'means' in an academic context.
Upcoming event
Please check back on this page for future events.
Past events
Exploring Academic Resistance to Decolonising the History Curriculum
Wednesday 15 July 2020, 11am-12pm, via Zoom
The recording for this webinar is available on YouTube
This webinar, led by Danielle Chavrimootoo, focused on a recent study undertaken to explore the barriers and academic resistance towards attempts to decolonise the undergraduate history curriculum at one institution.
The purpose of the research was to critically engage and explore a number of discourses which construct how academics challenge and resist plans to decolonise the curriculum from an academic developer's perspective. Six themes emerged from the research which includes, barriers and resistance to decolonising the curriculum, senior management buy-in, institutional policy, professional development, and a lack of relevant expertise. Whilst lecturers are asked to decolonise the curriculum, there is little agreement as to whether they are equipped for such a task (Pillay and Swanepoel 2019). The webinar encouraged discussion with participants to reflect and to explore how to support academics undertaking decolonising curriculum activities.
About the speaker: Danielle Chavrimootoo is a Senior Lecturer in Teaching and Learning at Kingston University within the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre. Her background is in teacher education with over 18 years’ experience she has also held a number of academic and professional services roles in further and higher education. Her role at Kingston involves advising staff how to develop inclusive teaching and learning practices. Danielle is currently a doctoral candidate at Lancaster University her thesis examines “Working with Academic Developers in Developing a UK Decolonial Praxis Typology”. Her additional research interests include developing equity and diversity in higher education, widening participation, student success, culturally responsive pedagogy and anti-racist pedagogy.
Thinking about decolonising in a time of crisis
Tuesday 28 April, 2-3.30pm, via Zoom
The Covid-19 outbreak is a historic moment and rupture from which we should not aim to get back to ‘business as usual.’ Learning and surviving are always processes, rather than finished results. The crisis has exacerbated racial and socio-economic inequalities in higher education and beyond. As part of the Eden Centre’s ‘Thinking about Decolonising’ seminar series, we invite members of the LSE community to think and reflect on decolonising at a time of crisis. The session will consider agency, belonging, and crisis as well as your own experiences currently in this moment.
Decolonising and Diversifying Economics and Economic History
Thursday 20 February 2020
Speakers: Dr Ariane Hillig (Goldsmiths) and Prof Tirthankar Roy (LSE Economic History)
Chair: Dr Akile Ahmet (LSE Eden Centre)
In this talk both scholars will discuss key questions, challenges and relevant initiatives in decolonising and diversifying their respective disciplines.
About the Speakers
Dr Ariane Hillig is a Lecturer in Economics in the Institute of Management Studies at Goldsmiths. Her current research interests are centered on the impact of financialization on everyday life. In particular, she is interested in interdisciplinary approaches in studying financialization, combining social theory, finance, cultural and political economy. She is on the management committee of the Association for Heterodox Economics, on the steering committee of D-Econ.org and a member of Reteaching Economics.
Prof. Tirthankar Roy is a Professor in Economic History at LSE. He teaches South Asia and Global History at the LSE, and the author of India in the World Economy from Antiquity to the Present, besides other books and articles. His work on economic history tries to answer three questions. Is there a long-term pattern in Indian capitalism? When did the big breaks occur in that pattern? Does history help us understand how capitalism in India works today?
Dr Akile Ahmet is an Academic Developer for Inclusive Education in LSE Eden Centre and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Akile was previously a Senior Lecturer in the sociology of race and racism at Middlesex University where she developed, taught and led modules on race and racism
This event is organised by LSE Eden Centre, LSE Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity and Decolonising LSE Collective.
Belonging in the Classroom
Monday 9 December 2019
We consider different ways we have used institutional timings and spaces to create a sense of belonging in the classroom. Whilst committed to interrogating and revising the curriculum as a part of the practice of decolonisation, here we consider how radical pedagogies help us to embed and create a sense of belonging in the classroom. Belonging should be at the centre of any discussion on inclusion and attainment at university as to feel that one belongs or does not, impacts on progression and engagement.
‘Who is silenced by our curriculum and how can we change this? A template for ‘decolonial curriculum mapping’ in the Social Sciences’.
Wednesday 27 November 2019
The first seminar was led by Dr Shakuntala Banaji, Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications.