Day 2: Thursday 15th June
Please do not sign up to more than one workshop within a single time slot as spaces are allocated based on room capacity.
Breaks will take place between 3-4pm and 6-7pm on each day of the Festival.
Further information about our workshop facilitators can be found via the Eventbrite link to their workshop.
Workshop 1 (1-3pm)
1.1 Education Through and for Social Justice: Developing Anti-Racist Practices in the Life Sciences Curriculum
Facilitated by: Dr. Moonisah Usman and Dr. Amy Maclatchy (University of Westminster)
National degree awarding gaps highlight the inequitable outcomes of higher education for racially minoritized students. This ongoing issue has been described as a ‘wicked problem’, directly related to structural racism, or policies and practices that continually disadvantage racialised students. Movements to decolonise the curriculum bring hope and the tools to rebuild more socially-just institutions and societies. However, it is sometimes questioned whether the field of science, with its guise of objectivity, needs decolonising, or what that process might look like. As decolonising of science gains momentum across the sector, we see it to involve challenging prejudice and bias, shifting from Eurocentric epistemology and recentering marginalised voices. Ultimately, shifting our relationship to and practice of science by being actively anti-racist, may help us tackle problems like health inequalities, which affect minoritised groups the most and with which we’ve grappled for too long.
In this workshop, we will consider how students and staff can build relationships to create learning spaces that allow anti-racist dialogue and practices. We will share lessons from our journey of using co-creation, critical thinking and storytelling to tend to issues of race and their intersection with the discipline of life sciences, on the core foundation module ‘Critical Thinking for Academic Professional Development ’ in the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation, University of Westminster.
1.2 KIL DAAGWIIYAAY – “STRONG VOICE”: Rematriation as Resistance
Facilitated by: Yahlnaaw and Lucas (Taajuu Consulting)
This session provides an overview of Rematriation and its epistemologies (ways of knowing), ontologies (ways of being), and axiology (values) to support in the development of action-based identity-building frameworks that will support participants in upholding Rematriation as resistance. Rematriation is a rising body of knowledge in anti-oppression, decolonization, and Indigenization work and beyond. It is not simply the replacement of repatriation and emphasizes relationship building as central to moving towards shared goals while recognizing the centrality of relationships and story. Much of these knowledges are tied to Indigenous lands on Turtle Island (colonially-called Canada) but are fluid, flexible, and adaptable by expanding to regions impacted by colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, and eco-terrorism.
1.3 Decolonial Joy in Learning: Dreams and Reflections Using Play-Doh
Facilitated by Dr Fatima Maatwk (University of Westminster)
In our journeys through Higher Education, we navigate the complexity of institutional structures, colonial legacies, and continually reflect on the question of how we fit in. Our student partnership work is centred on building meaningful and decolonial relationships and co-creating our learning and teaching realities. These processes require trust, care, and intentionality. In our often demanding and hectic daily life in HEIs, we sometimes struggle to find the inner space to reflect and connect to sources of joy. In this workshop, participants are invited to reflect on and co-create the meaning of decolonial joy using play-doh. Moving away from traditional research methods, which often mirror the imbalanced power dynamics in HE, we use play-doh as a generative and creative method that allows meaning to iteratively emerge and allows us to connect with parts of ourselves we might not easily connect with through more traditional methods.
Workshop 2 (4-6pm)
2.1 Making History: A Creative Workshop on London’s Colonial Fashion Legacies
Facilitated by: The Decolonising Fashion Society (University of the Arts London, UAL)
The Decolonising Fashion Society began at Central Saint Martins and is committed to raising questions about coloniality in the context of fashion. Its members include current students and alumni from around the world who all have a shared drive to make the fashion industry more inclusive and equitable.
Join the Decolonising Fashion Society for a creative workshop that explores the colonial past of London through practical activities. You will visit different workstations inspired by areas of London such as Westminster, Kensington, Chelsea, Waterloo and Pimlico, and take part in various activities that challenge colonial narratives in fashion. You are encouraged to keep your creations and contribute to a digital time-capsule. This workshop will be an interactive way to learn about the history of London and encourage decolonial joy.
2.2 Safe Space for White Questions: Popular Education for Collective Liberation
Facilitated by: Ajay Parasram and Alex Khasnabish
Join this interactive workshop about anti-racist popular education aimed specifically at engaging white people in the struggle for collective liberation. This workshop reflects on and models Safe Space for White Questions, a free, public, monthly drop-in YouTube series hosted by Khasnabish and Parasram where people ask questions about race, racism, social change, and social justice they have always wondered about but feel nervous asking in other venues. Learn about the origins, pitfalls, and promises of this experiment in popular education for collective liberation and ask your own questions about race, racism, and social justice.
Evening session (7-8:30pm)
Title: This is for Us: On-doing Undoing and How we Endure.
We are delighted to host a live event for the Pedagogies for Social Justice podcast with Barby Asante.
About Barby: Barby Asante is a London based artist, educator and researcher. Asante applies a decolonial Black feminist lens to her practice- based research drawing on Akan Adinkra symbology and philosophical principles to consider ways to undo the persistent legacies of slavery and coloniality. She completed her PhD in 2022 from CREAM (Centre for Research in Education, Arts and Media) at The University of Westminster in London. She has been a visiting lecturer in several institutions in the U.K and the Netherlands and is currently a lecturer in Fine Art Critical Studies at Goldsmiths College in London.
This event has received generous funding from the University of Westminster, Centre for Social Justice Research.