Podcast
This tool aims to centre discussions on topics such as anti-racism and decolonisation as a means of exchanging and generating pedagogical practices and remedies. Appreciating the knowledge that we gain through storytelling, reading, asking questions and listening, this is an offering for those looking for conversations about educational justice, transformation and change. We acknowledge these processes can only be done effectively when done collaboratively, so we invite students, lecturers and external speakers from our communities in order to hear their voices, center their knowledges and ensure that they are leading change.
Episode 1: Jennifer Fraser and Fatima Maatwk – Introduction
Hosted by Kyra Araneta. In this episode, project members Jennifer Fraser (University Director of Student Partnership in the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation) and Fatima Maatwk (Student Partnership Lecturer in the CETI) discuss where the project situates itself within anti-racist and decolonial work, how it came to be, and why student-staff partnership is pivotal to any effort towards social justice in HE.
Transcript
Episode 2: Yahlnaaw – Indigenous worldviews, language revitalisation and Psychology as a colonial discipline
In this episode of the podcast, our host Kyra Araneta is joined by Yahlnaaw (she/her) as she speaks to her experiences as a woman who holds the identities of being Indigenous, Queer, and Transgender while encompassing the epistemologies (ways of knowing), ontologies (ways of being) and axiology (values) that accompany her intersecting identities. Yahlnaaw delves into navigating Indigenous identity while being submersed in colonial social systems and revitalizing her Indigenous language as a second language learner and how it has influenced her master’s thesis research. Yahlnaaw offers possible avenues for communities to utilize in the de-constructing processes of oppressive and colonizing frameworks and systems.
Transcript
Yahlnaaw’s opinion piece for the International Journal for Students as Partners
Episode 3: Lubaba Khalid – Multiraciality, the attainment gap and student unions
In this episode of the podcast, our host Kyra Araneta is joined by Lubaba Khalid. Lubaba has been involved in numerous projects during her time at Westminster, from being a co-author on the “What is the attainment gap?” report as a student, a BAME representation officer, and her most recent position as former Vice President of Welfare in the Student Union. In this interview, we delve deeper into her background and identity, as well her journey into becoming the leader, activist and role model she is today.
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Episode 4: Deanne Bell – Decolonial atmospheres, retrospective autoethnography and decolonising Psychology
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by Deanne Bell, Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University – with specialities in liberation psychology and decolonisation. Some of her most recent work focuses on building decolonial atmospheres and developing imaginings of a new university that exists outside of the colonial forms of knowing and being that are still deeply entrenched in the system. In this interview, we delve deeper into Deanne’s upbringing in Jamaica and how she came to understand her identity and positionality, her recent paper on retrospective autoethnography and what she thinks can be done to decolonise psychology as a discipline.
Transcript
The article we discussed in this episode
Episode 5: Episode 5: Tanveer Ahmed – Decolonising Fashion Design and shifting the Western canon
In this episode of the podcast our host Fatima Maatwk is joined by PhD student and visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths and University of London, Tanveer Ahmed to discuss what it means to teach and think critically about Fashion Design (FD). Some of her most recent work focuses on how representations of the Other are reinforced in in FD curricula as well as how Black feminist literature can aid our understanding and help educators to develop anti-racist and culturally progressive FD pedagogy. In this interview, we delve deeper into Tanveer’s academic background and how she came to understand the Eurocentric, capitalistic, patriarchal, colonial nature of the fashion industry and why this space continues to disadvantage Black and Brown students of fashion design.
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Episode 6: Lubna Bin Zayyad – Representations in the media and Decolonising Journalism
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by Lubna Bin Zayyad, who recently graduated with a Masters in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Westminster. As well as playing a key role in the Pedagogies for Social Justice steering group and glossary, Lubna’s writing is mainly centred around deconstructing colonial and racist beliefs and representations in the media – in particular, on the areas of the Middle East and Islamic History. In this interview, we delve deeper into Lubna’s upbringing and experience of multi-raciality, on top of how she came to understanding her identity/positionality through media. Lubna then offers her thoughts on how we might begin to decolonise not only the media itself, but the way in which it is taught and understood in curricula.
Transcript
Lubna’s article for gal-dem magazine
Episode 7: Dibyesh Anand – Colonial rule in China, securitization and Decolonising International Relations
In this episode of the podcast our host Kyra Araneta is joined by Dibyesh Anand, a Professor of International Relations (IR) and the Head of the School of Social Sciences at Westminster. Dibyesh is widely recognised for his research on topics including politics and international relations of Tibetans under Chinese rule, Islamophobia in India, the politics of security and representation, the emergence of China and India as major non-Western powers, and the contested nature of nation-state formations in Asia. In this interview, we delve deeper into Dibyesh’s recent work on securitization and how it relates to the modern Chinese colonisation of Xinjiang and Tibet. We also discuss the ways in which IR is still a colonial discipline and how we might begin to decolonise the study on a pedagogical level.
Transcript
The article we discussed in this episode
Episode 8: Olimpia Burchiellaro – LGBTQ studies, queer politics and coloniality
In this episode of the podcast our host Fatima Maatwk is joined by Olimpia Burchiellaro, a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Westminster. Some of her recent work focuses on issues of inclusion/exclusion and the transformative potential of queer activism. In this interview, we explore themes of identity, queerness, Eurocentrism and whiteness, as well as how we might begin to decolonise the IR canon and adopt decolonial/anti-racist pedagogies.
Transcript