Season 4
Episode 44: Maisha Islam: Rethinking academic research culture and decolonial approaches to student-staff partnership
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by EdD researcher, Maisha Islam, who is also the Doctoral College Research Culture Lead of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at University of Southampton. In this episode, we discuss Maisha’s journey through higher education and her research on the attainment gap and student experiences. We consider how we might begin to rethink academic research as a culture and practice. And towards the end of the episode, we explore the synergies between the practice of partnership with socially-just and liberatory theories.
Listen to this episode — Transcript [PDF]
Episode 45: Amber and Zelia: Decolonising Social Work Education and Practice
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by students, Amber Gabrielle Nyankson and Zelia Camelo, who are currently studying Social Work at the University of West London. In this episode, we discuss Amber and Zelia’s upbringing and their major influences. We talk about their different journeys into higher education and the choice to study Social Work. Amber and Zelia also shed light on the course at UWL, particularly their responsibilities as Student Social Workers. And towards the end of the episode, we consider what it means to decolonise social work education and the practice itself.
Listen to this episode — Transcript [PDF]
Episode 46: Huanyu Huang: Researching feminist movements in China and decolonising the media
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by PhD researcher Huanyu Huang. In the episode, we discuss Huanyu’s journey into higher education and her motivations for embarking on a PhD. Huanyu’s PhD thesis is titled: Speak in Women’s Way: Online Feminism Movements and Social Media Impact of #MeToo China 2018. Her research investigates the feminist narratives that emerged from the #MeToo movement in China and seeks to underline the associated feminist issues from a Chinese perspective within the global feminist discourse. With this understanding, towards the end of the episode we consider the ways in which media is used as a colonial tool and what it means to decolonise it.
Listen to this episode — Transcript [PDF]
Episode 47: Delso Batista: The coloniality of knowledge and decolonising psychotherapy
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by psychotherapist and PhD researcher, Delso Batista. Delso’s PhD at Nottingham Trent University is focused on the lived experiences of Black, Brown and immigrant Psychology students in Portugal, specifically looking at the violence that is generated in higher education. From experiences of racism to the act of denying racism as a systemic problem, Delso’s study draws from the work of Indigenous and Black scholars, as well as ancestral knowledges to understand how the higher education system perpetuates coloniality in various forms. Towards the end of the episode, we also consider what it means to decolonise psychotherapy as a practice, as well as the role of storytelling.
In order of mentioned, the texts referred to in this episode were:
Chilisa, B. (2019). Indigenous research methodologies. Sage publications.
Mignolo, W. D. (2007). ‘Epistemic Disobedience’: the de-colonial option and the meaning of identity in politics. Gragoatá, 12(22).
Kilomba, G. (2021). Plantation memories: episodes of everyday racism. Between the Lines.
Bell, D. (2022). Occupy the classroom radically. Third World Quarterly, 43(8), 2063-2074.
Hooks, B. (2014). Teaching to transgress. Routledge.
Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury publishing USA.
Freyre, G. (2019). Casa-grande & senzala. Global Editora e Distribuidora Ltda.
Smith, L. T. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Evaristo, C. (2020). A escrevivência e seus subtextos. Escrevivência: a escrita de nós: reflexões sobre a obra de Conceição Evaristo, 1, 26-46.
Gomez-Ordonez, L., Adams, G., Ratele, K., Suffla, S., Stevens, G., & Reddy, G. (2021). Decolonising psychological science: Encounters and cartographies of resistance. PSYCHOLOGIST, 34, 54-57.
Listen to this episode — Transcript [PDF]
Episode 48: Lucy Bond: Decolonising Memory and Trauma studies
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by Dr Lucy Bond, based at the University of Westminster. In this episode, we discuss Lucy’s academic journey and current role in higher education. To which she explains her focus on memory and trauma research and how she engages with these concepts on the “Trauma in American Modernity: The Nation and its Limits” module. We also explore the topic of decolonizing memory studies and its connections to colonial legacies and historical recollections — particularly, the imperialist aspects of the field and the need to disrupt Western binaries in memory practices. Additionally, Lucy shares how lecturers might begin to embrace decolonial praxis in the classroom.
Listen to this episode — Transcript [PDF]
Episode 49: Heidi Safia Mirza: Ethnic inequalities in the UK, doing intersectional social research and decolonising British universities
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by Professor Heidi Safia Mirza, an accomplished academic, activist and feminist writer with a wealth of knowledge and experience in addressing complex issues related to race, ethnicity, and inequality in the context of higher education. In this interview, Heidi discusses her upbringing and journey through academia, as well as the key influences that have shaped her career. Focusing on the research process behind the “Race and Ethnicity” report which she co-authored for the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Heidi reflects on the historical context and the intersectional approach used to examine ethnic inequalities in the UK. Finally, when contemplating the challenges of upholding the authenticity of social justice work within the academic space, Heidi provides valuable guidance for embracing and surmounting these hurdles.