Cambridge students step up decolonisation campaign

A SUCCESSFUL Cambridge University student decolonisation campaign is to target even more faculties.

According to a document, more than 30 departments will be targeted in efforts to alter courses that are perceived to be too dominated by white, male, Eurocentric perspectives.

Working groups have been set up to discuss possible changes in a number of subjects, according to a spreadsheet seen by The Daily Telegraph. The classics society has had talks on “what decolonisation would look like”, while a “decolonising physics reading group” is up and running, the document says.

The geography faculty is described as being “fairly far ahead” in decolonising its curriculum, while the law, sociology and architecture faculties have decolonisation working groups.

Chemistry, medicine and engineering are subjects earmarked for future campaigns, according to the document which was posted on the Decolonise Cambridge Facebook group.

The document explains how politics and international studies students “managed to get the department to place decolonisation as core agenda in the forthcoming changes to the curricula” with a student and staff faculty meeting due to take place next term.

Decolonisation seminars are due to run in history and philosophy of science units at the start of next term.

Jessica Tan, the officer for black and minority ethnic (BME) education at the university’s student union, said she plans to set up a team to centralise efforts to decolonise the curriculum across a range of subjects.

Last year, The Daily Telegraph revealed that English literature tutors “could actively seek to ensure the presence” of BME writers on their course, under proposals discussed by the faculty’s teaching forum.

The move followed an open letter, signed by 100 students, headed Decolonising the English Faculty. However, other leading universities are resisting pressure from decolonisation campaigns aimed at statues and building names as well as the curricula.

Oxford University refused to bow to pressure from a group calling for a statue of Cecil Rhodes to be taken down from Oriel College because of his links with imperialism.

Meanwhile, Bristol University announced it will not rename the Wills Memorial Building despite campaigners claiming it was named after Henry Overton Wills III, whom they allege was a slave trader.

Ilyas Nagdee, an NUS officer for black students, said there were many examples of Britain’s imperial past being “celebrated without context or challenge from institutions which are meant to be centres of critical thought.”

He said the campaign was “borne out of the frustration of students of colour who have not seen their history reflected in their textbooks”.