Top university accused of Soviet tactics to ‘decolonise’ curriculum
A RUSSELL Group university has been accused of Soviet-style censorship after requiring new humanities courses to “move away” from a “white, Eurocentric” curriculum.
Academics at Exeter University’s department of Social Sciences and International Studies (SSIS) have been told that they should “integrate” these changes when updating modules or creating new ones.
One lecturer claimed the faculty – which oversees law, politics, sociology, philosophy, and anthropology – is undermining academic freedom “in the most profound sense”.
“It is like there is a Maoist cultural revolution taking place,” he said.
The academic said the movement to “decolonise” the curriculum has swiftly progressed from a “faddish fringe theory” to being “adopted as the new orthodoxy” in universities.
He likened the approach to Soviet Russia, where academics were asked to prove how their courses would advance radical socialism in the face of reactionary capitalist imperialism from the West. “What’s the difference?” he said.
Lecturers at Exeter University fear that if they fail to demonstrate that they are “decolonising” their curriculum, their courses will not get accredited. A document titled “SSIL Accreditation Coversheet” states that new modules or changes to modules must be sent to the SSIS Quality and Standards Team.
Academics are asked to “reflect on how you have considered and integrated” various concepts into their module design, such as providing a welcome learning environment, supporting equality and diversity and promoting participation of students.
As part of the accreditation process, lecturers must also think about how they are “broadening epistemological and ontological horizons by moving away from a white, Eurocentric curriculum”.
The academic said this goes against the university’s policy on academic freedom and creates a “chilling effect”.
He said: “There are lots of people here who feel the same way as I do but no one will come forward because there is a deep culture of fear.”
An Exeter University spokesman said: “We are an international organisation with staff and students from around the world, and from a wide range of backgrounds, and it is right this is recognised in our teaching, curriculum content and assessment.”