YSJ, Academic Development Programme
Professional Development for Learning, Teaching and Research
How should we understand ‘decolonisation’ in the context of higher education? Is decolonisation more about material demands or epistemic justice? Can we seek to decolonise the curriculum without decarbonising the institution? How does decolonisation intersect with other social justice issues and/or with the politics of anti-racism and anti-capitalism?
For the second event in our 2024/25 Discussing Decolonisation series, we will meet on campus in York for a roundtable discussion featuring short position papers from YSJ colleagues, followed by collective discussion and debate.
Dr Jude Parks and Dr Tokunbo Olorundami will open the proceedings with a presentation on the relationship between decolonising and decarbonising the curriculum, and the role of academia in shaping inclusive and future-oriented education. Lucy Potter will then seek to (re)position decolonisation as a political and intellectual project that demands a commitment to anti-capitalism and, with it, a revival of anti-imperialist internationalism.
Following both papers, we will open up the floor for wider group discussion and debate, chaired by Dr Laura Key, co-convener (with Lucy Potter) of the Discussing Decolonisation series. For those who are keen, we then plan to head into town for some festive drinks and to carry on the conversations in a more informal setting!
Jude Parks is Senior Lecturer in Geography at York St John University. She is a long-standing member of the Ecological Justice Research Network as well as YSJ’s Living Lab — a network of students and staff collaborating to investigate and tackle real ecological justice issues, from the campus food system to transformative climate adaptation
Tokunbo Olorundami is Lecturer in Geography at York St John University, and an active member of both the University’s Ecological Justice Research Network and the 2024-26 Living Lab: Resilience in a Changing Climate. He has also worked as programme administrator and Director of Studies for the African Development study centre, overseeing CPD training across several African countries.
Lucy Potter is the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Team Coordinator at York St John University, and co-convener of the YSJ Discussing Decolonisation event series and reading group. For the past few years, she has also been organising with No More Exclusions — a grassroots anti-racist, abolitionist movement fighting for racial justice in and across the UK education system.
Bookings will be available again in January 2025. Please email Lucy Potter or Laura Key if you have any questions.
If you would like to receive updates about forthcoming events in the series, please sign up for our Discussing Decolonisation mailing list.