Session 1: Experience Decolonising across disciplines in postgraduate research and supervision (April 2023)

Poliah, Keren; Ong, Jade Munslow; Yates, Katherine Lucy; Hurley, Ursula Kate; Hosseini, Dustin; Gilbert, David Junior; Helm, Hannah

Abstract

Title: South African Literature, Decolonisation, and the English Literature A-Level

Summary: In this lecture and Q+A, Jade will discuss what 'decolonising the curriculum' might mean for the discipline of English Studies. Drawing on examples from her work with A-Level learners as part of her research project 'South African Modernism 1880-2020', Jade will explore strategies for decolonising work within education.

Bio: Dr Jade Munslow Ong is Reader in English Literature at the University of Salford and Principal Investigator on a three-year AHRC-funded research project, South African Modernism 1880-2020. She is author of Olive Schreiner and African Modernism: Allegory, Empire and Postcolonial Writing (Routledge, 2018), and has two books forthcoming: a co-authored book with Matthew Whittle entitled Global Literatures and the Environment: Twenty-First Century Perspectives (Routledge), and a co-edited collection with Andrew van der Vlies entitled Olive Schreiner: Writing Networks and Global Contexts (Edinburgh University Press). Jade is also a 2022 BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker and appears regularly on BBC Radio 3.



Prof. Ursula K. Hurley

Title: Decolonising the PhD (supervisor): Allyship and non-traditional PhDs

Bio: Ursula Hurley is Professor of Creative Writing in the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology at the University of Salford. Her research interests are in socially engaged creative practice, co-creation, and subverting the academy.



Dustin Hosseini

Title: Experiencing pernicious ignorance in PGR education: a narrative self-reflection on getting to know decoloniality

Summary: In this presentation, I reflect on my journey of getting to know decolonial thinking and what it means to undertake a decolonizing of education and the curriculum. Decolonising education hadn’t been at the forefront of my mind while they were exploring topics. In seeking an area of focus for a paper, I initially looked at issues related to the contested BAME attainment gap and deficit narratives as examples. At each turn, I was discouraged from exploring these topics. But why? Too big, I was told. A friend and colleague suggested decolonial thinking for exploration. My reflection touches upon challenges encountered along the way that saw an enactment of the over-representation of Man (Wynter, 2003) and the coloniality of being, power and knowledge (Wynter, 2003; Quijano, 2007). I encountered this at every turn from the design of the course which was biased towards liberalism and liberal thought to the exemplars provided which also reflected liberal thinking and biases. All of this culminated with me successfully writing a paper that uses decolonial thinking to imagine a decolonizing education, only to receive feedback that denies the existence of decolonial thinking through the privileged misapplication of terms from a position of power. Through constantly mislabeling decoloniality as ‘postcolonial,’ I experienced epistemic violence through ‘pernicious ignorance’ (Dotson, 2011).

Bio: I hold many roles: my day job is as an educator of educators (I teach learning/curriculum design). I am a co-lead of the Decolonising the Curriculum Community of Practice, and I am a part-time PGR student. I have experienced learning and teaching globally across diverse higher education institutions, from undergraduate to postgraduate.

• Digital Artefact Type: Video
• Acceptance Date: May 26, 2023
• Online Publication Date: May 26, 2023
• Publication Date: May 26, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2025
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17866/rd.salford.23043542.v1
• External URL: https://salford.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/Session_1_Experience_Decolonising_across_disciplines_in_postgraduate_research_and_supervision_April_2023_/23043542