CGHE WEBINAR SERIES: Racism and Coloniality in Global Higher Education

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Convenors: David Mills, Natasha Robinson, Solomon Zewolde

Read Justice, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit document

This CGHE webinar series explores what global racial equity would mean for the future of higher education, and addresses the challenges of decolonising research systems and pedagogic cultures. The aim is to promote knowledge of, and commitment to, anti-racism within universities, and amongst researchers and policymakers. Contributors will reflect on colonial institutional legacies, racialised institutional cultures, and the power of ‘whiteness’, drawing on empirical research in a range of higher education contexts. Questions to address include:

• Why are the legacies of colonialism often overlooked, or erased, in favour of a ‘colour blind’ analysis of global higher education’s hierarchies and inequalities?
• Is the institutional racism of today’s universities a historical legacy or a resurgent cultural dynamic, intersected by the geopolitics of internationalisation.
• What can we learn about the structural inequalities of the global knowledge system from critical geographers and scholars in Science and Technology Studies?
• What forms of profound and transformational change would be needed to create racial equity in global higher education and research?
• How are universities, faculties and students, addressing these colonial legacies? Can owning ‘whiteness’ and acknowledging white privilege – along with the JEDI agenda (justice, equality, diversity and inclusion) – help move these debates forward?

Racism and Coloniality in Global Higher Education
Tuesday 7 September, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: Simon Marginson, University of Oxford
Speakers: Solomon Zewolde, UEL; Natasha Robinson, University of Oxford; David Mills, University of Oxford

Affirmative action and transformation in South African Higher Education
Thursday 9 September, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: Natasha Robinson, University of Oxford
Speaker: Crain Soudien, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa

Dismantling the Colonial University: Defiant Scholarship & Decolonial Thought in Africa
Tuesday 14 September, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: Claire Callender, UCL Institute of Education and Birkbeck
Speakers: Amber Murrey and Patricia Daley, University of Oxford

Learning Whiteness: material, epistemic and affective relations of Higher Education
Thursday 16 September (Zoom webinar and Seminar Room G, Department of Education, University of Oxford), 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: Xin Xu, University of Oxford
Speaker: Arathi Sriprakash, University of Bristol

Colonial legacies in “academic quality” structures: A missing component in the decolonization debate?
Tuesday 21 September, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: Paul Ashwin, University of Lancaster
Speakers: Gerardo Blanco and Rebecca Schendel, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College

Race, Nativity, and Identity: Engaging an Equity-Driven Approach to International Research
Thursday 23 September, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: Solomon Zewolde, UEL
Speakers: Chrystal Mwangi, George Mason University and Christina Yao, University of South Carolina

On Decentralizing: epistemic authority beyond the centers of knowledge production
Tuesday 28 September, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: Alis Oancea, University of Oxford
Speaker: Leandro Rodgriguez Medina, Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico

Towards ‘Decolonizing’ Curriculum and Pedagogy (DCP) across Disciplines and Global Higher Education Contexts: A Critical Synthesis
Thursday 30 September, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Chair: David Mills, University of Oxford
Speakers: Riyad Shahjahan, Michigan State University; Annabelle Estera, Independent scholar; Kirsten T. Edwards, University of Oklahoma

CGHE webinars are fully open to participants. They are interactive, enabling attendees to speak directly in the webinar, ask questions of speakers when called in by the chair and see all other participants. At any time you can communicate directly with others, either all together or on a one-to-one basis, through the webinar Chat.