Session 2: Experience Decolonising across disciplines in postgraduate research and supervision (April 2023)

Poliah, Keren; Barnes, Emma; Solomon, Racheal; Gilbert, David Junior; Helm, Hannah

Abstract

Title: Beyond the Institution: Knowledge Exchange as Decolonial Method

Summary: Since the establishment of universities hundreds of years ago, higher education institutions have been characterised by their elitist and exclusive cultures. These cultures, which are hierarchical, privilege Western knowledges, and foreground individual, rather than collective voices, are symptomatic of the colonial nature of universities. Efforts to tackle the colonial underpinnings of HE institutions, however, have thus far centred upon what Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang describe as ‘decolonisation as metaphor’ (2013). Decolonisation manifests as ‘decolonising the curriculum’ or ‘decolonising student thinking’, or even performative actions relating to the renaming of buildings. Although there may be small changes to teaching and learning, this ‘metaphorical’ mode of decolonisation offers the illusion of change, whilst leaving intact the colonial structures of institutions.

In this paper, I will explore how the UKRI’s recent introduction of the Knowledge Exchange Framework can offer lecturers, researchers and students opportunities to decolonise universities on a practical rather than metaphorical level. The Framework, which critically assesses the social and economic impact of research upon the general public and local communities, and encourages public engagement with university resources, offers a way to critique the elitist and insular structures of universities. I make the case that the Knowledge Exchange Framework has the potential to incite what Achille Mbembe terms the ‘process of decolonization both of knowledge and of the university as an institution’ (2016, p.33).

Bio: Dr Emma is a Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century and World Literatures and Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the University of Salford.



Racheal Solomon

Title: Folktales and the radio today: a study on the Bachama People of Nigeria

Summary: The Bachama people like other African societies have rich oral traditions which are transmitted from parents to offspring, inter-generationally. Due to the influence of colonialism and globalisation, there is need to explore and understand how the rich oral traditions are impacted. It is on this note that my research explored the current art of storytelling among the Bachama people of Adamawa State in Nigeria. The study provides an insight into the nature of African traditional oral art as a literary form serving both aesthetic and didactic purposes. The study revolved around the collection, analysis and documentation of the art of storytelling thereby revealing the richness of the culture. It used the functionalist theory as the underlying framework and focused on the functions and thematic dimensions of the art while projecting its relationship with the socio cultural development of the society. Four corresponding questions were formulated: what kind of stories are told in Bachama community? where are such stories told? when are these stories told? And why are they told? A total number of two stories were recorded, transcribed, translated and analyzed. The analyses revealed remarkable traditional elements of storytelling as an art form. The study, therefore recommends among that the stories of the Bachama people (like other major cultural art forms) need to be valued as a unique cultural heritage that should be studied and preserved for the people of Bachama.

Bio: Racheal Solomon has just completed her masters in English and Drama at the Kaduna state University, Nigeria. Her research focuses on African oral narratives, and she is looking forward to defending her thesis on Bachama Folktales and the Radio Today. She had her first degree at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria where she researched storytelling as an oral artform by the Bachama people of Adamawa State in Nigeria, Racheal intends to pursue a PhD in decolonizing the African oral narratives so as to encourage the younger generations to value their cultures and traditions thereby preserving these cultures which are in danger of extinction. She aims to research the influence of modernism and television on post-colonial folktale narration in Africa.

Citation

Poliah, K., Barnes, E., Solomon, R., Gilbert, D. J., & Helm, H. (2023). Session 2: Experience Decolonising across disciplines in postgraduate research and supervision (April 2023). [Video]

• Digital Artefact Type: Video
• Online Publication Date: May 26, 2023
• Publication Date: May 26, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2025
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17866/rd.salford.23045231.v1
• Publisher URL: https://salford.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/Session_2_Experience_Decolonising_across_disciplines_in_postgraduate_research_and_supervision_April_2023_/23045231