Activists’ push for decolonised subjects grows
BRITAIN: Students who campaigned for the English curriculum at Cambridge University to be ‘‘decolonised’’ are turning their attention to other subjects, including history, philosophy and history of art.
Activists behind the ‘‘Decolonise Cambridge’’ movement said they intended to press for changes to the curriculum in more areas.
Efforts to review the university’s degree courses and examine whether syllabuses are too dominated by white, Eurocentric traditions are also gathering momentum among Cambridge’s academic staff.
A group of sociology, politics and education lecturers have set up a ‘‘Decolonising the Curriculum Faculty Research Initiative’’ which seeks to ‘‘generate and support efforts to centre decolonisation, race, and the politics of knowledge within the reform of the Cambridge curriculum’’.
The initiative, run out of the University’s centre for African studies, hopes to ‘‘build a network of faculty members throughout Cambridge interested in advancing debates and efforts around the decolonisation of the curriculum and curriculum justice’’.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that English literature lecturers and tutors should ‘‘ensure the presence’’ of black and minority ethnic writers on their courses, under plans discussed by the faculty’s Teaching Forum.
The move followed an open letter, penned by Lola Olufemi, Cambridge University Student Union’s women’s officer and signed by more than 100 students, titled ‘‘Decolonising the English Faculty’’.
Cambridge University said yesterday it supported Olufemi, and condemned the harassment on social media of students over their campaigning for decolonisation.
Other leading universities have refused to bow to decolonisation campaigns aimed at names of buildings and statues, as well as their curriculums. Oxford University saw off pressure from the ‘‘Rhodes Must Fall’’ campaign, which called for the statue of Cecil Rhodes to be taken down from Oriel College over his links to imperialism.
Bristol University announced earlier this year that it will not rename the Wills Memorial Building despite campaigners claiming it is named after a slave trader.
The National Union of Students’ (NUS) campaign called ‘‘Liberate My Curriculum’’ was set up to ‘‘expose institutional racism’’ within higher education and bring together decolonisation campaigns at various universities.
Ilyas Nagdee, the NUS’s black students’ officer, said there were numerous examples of Britain’s imperial past being ‘‘celebrated without any context or challenge from the institutions which are meant to be Britain’s centres of critical thought’’.
A spokesman for Cambridge University said that academic discussions about the English course were at a ‘‘very early stage’’ and denied that changes will lead to ‘‘any one author being dropped in favour of others’’. – Telegraph Group