Tuesday 12th September, 5:15pm – 6:30pm
Decolonising the Business School: Perspectives from BBS students and Professional Services colleagues.
Film Screening, with talks from New Vic Borderlines and School of Film and Creative Writing, followed by a Q&A session with staff and students in the School.
We’ve all heard the calls to ‘Decolonise the University’, but what does this actually mean?
Showcasing work from the first year of BBS’ Decolonisation Project, two short films created during workshops with BBS students and Professional Service colleagues will be premiered at this event, alongside talks from New Vic Borderlines, a theatre group who we worked with for our workshops with students, and Dr Richard Langly, and Jemma Penny from University of Birmingham’s Department of Film and Creative Writing.
The talks and screenings will give you a practical understanding of what decolonisation means for staff and students at BBS, as well inspiration into how you can begin to decolonise your own practice. It will also showcase the role of alternative methodologies in research, such as walking, cultural animation, film and art.
Wednesday 13th September, 2pm – 4:30pm
Reflecting on Decolonisation in practice at BBS – one year on.
We’d like to invite you to the final seminar of this year’s Decolonisation Project seminar series, where we’re thrilled to be joined by Sally Everett, who will be speaking about the decolonisation movement across UK business schools.
It will be on Wednesday 13th September, Room G07, and we’ll be sharing updates from the Decolonisation Project after one year since the official launch of the project, hear our updates, reflections and findings about decolonising Birmingham Business School, as well as from those who have began the process of decolonising their own research, teaching and professional practice within the School, following allocation of the Decolonisation Project’s seedcorn funding.
It is being organised in conjunction with the Education Conference. To sign up, please accept this invite, and check the option on the Education Conference Eventbrite at checkout via.
Agenda
14:00 – 14:05: Welcome and Introduction
14:05 – 14:35: Decolonisation and Diversification of the Curriculum: perspectives from UK Business Schools
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Sally Everett, Professor of Business Education, Deputy Dean (interim) and Vice Dean (Education) at King’s Business School, King’s College London, and member of CABS’ Race Equality Working Group and their Equality and Diversity Committee
14:35 – 15:15: Reflections from the first year of the Decolonisation Project
15:15 – 15:30: Coffee break
15:30 – 16:15: Panel discussion from BBS Decolonisation Project Seedcorn funding winners (see speakers below)
16:15 – 16:25: Reflections on BBS Decolonisation project in the context of other Business Schools’ initiatives
16:25 – 16:30: Closing remarks
Speakers:
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Sally Everett, Professor of Business Education, Deputy Dean (interim) and Vice Dean (Education) at King’s Business School, King’s College London.
Decolonisation and Diversification of the Curriculum: perspectives from UK Business Schools.
Sally was the Academic Lead for Inclusive Education for King’s College London (2019-2023) and leads the business school’s gender network (Women@KBS). Sally is a National Teaching Fellow (2017), Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2013), Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence award holder (team leader, 2016) and is Equality Officer for the Association of National Teaching Fellows. Sally is a member of the Chartered Association of Business School’s Race Equality Working Group and their Equality and Diversity Committee.
Panel speakers - BBS Decolonisation Project Seedcorn funding winners:
Challenges and Opportunities of Decolonizing the Accounting Curriculum.
Inya’s research aims to explore the potential challenges associated with decolonizing the curriculum in relation to the reliance on accounting in economic decision-making. Q methodology will be employed to identify subjective viewpoints and perspectives of individuals involved in the fields of accounting and economics. By adopting a qualitative approach, this research seeks to uncover the diverse attitudes, beliefs, and values held by stakeholders regarding the interplay between accounting, economic decision-making, and the decolonization of education. The findings of this study can contribute to the ongoing discourse on curriculum reform and help shape educational strategies that promote inclusivity and diversity.
Reflections on the ‘Decolonising Book Club’
Educating ourselves around what decolonization is and how it can be undertaken within a business school setting is fundamental to moving this agenda forward. The Decolonizing Book Club was formed to provide a space where members of the Business School could come together to discuss books and articles key to developing our understanding of this agenda. In addition to reading the seminal text, On Decoloniality by Mignolo and Walsh, we had the opportunity to spend a day discussing this agenda with one of the UK’s leading scholars in the field, Professor Bobby Banerjee from the Bayes Business School in London. We are currently in discussion about ways to continue into the new academic year.
The Decolonisation of Economics.
The aim of our project is to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of both academic colleagues and students towards the decolonisation agenda developing in the BBS. Using the outcomes of student and staff surveys/interviews/focus groups, we present the emerging themes and challenges to the advancement of the agenda. We will also aim to propose specific areas where the decolonisation is most likely to take place and be beneficial for the overall development of an inclusive curriculum. We will compare our findings to the examples / proposals of decolonisation of the economics curriculum in other institutions.
Decolonising the curriculum: Implications, issues and challenges as it relates to the Dubai campus.
Decolonization and the process of decolonizing the curriculum will have different meaning of different groups (Muldoon, 2019). UAE was a previously a British colony, it population is multicultural with a significant group of migrant workers from previous colonies. The Ministry of Exudation’s website noted that private sector education the British Curriculum is one of 14 curriculum (ADEK 2023) , offered in the UAE. It is against this background that the author approached the study on decolonizing the curriculum. Studying at UOBD would have been an informed choice. In exploring this topic the author will share the various perspectives gained during the network events and in discussion with student groups.
Reflections on the ‘Decolonising the Discourse’ one day conference.
Thomas Sebastian is holding a one-day conference to explore ways in which some aspects of decolonial thinking can be introduced into the University. The conference, held on 14th August, will bring together scholars, experts, students and community members to discuss the impact of eurocentrisim on various aspects of society and to explore the potential for decolonisation in these fields. The keynote speaker, Sandew Hira, argues that colonialism has created a specific form of knowledge production for the social sciences, mathematics and the hard sciences that has produced distorted views of the world of humans and nature. This one-day conference will explore ways in which some aspects of decolonial thinking can be introduced into the University. Sign up to attend the event.
Decolonisation and Modern Slavery
A recent report by the International Labour Organization observes that nearly 55 million people are trapped in slavery across the world. Modern slavery is found in different sectors of the global economy both in the Global South and North. Despite its widespread existence, marketing theorists have paid relatively little attention to modern slavery. In this interdisciplinary research, I offer insights into the conditions of modern slavery. I examine India as a site of modern slavery and show how contemporary capitalist accumulation is based on neocolonial relations of production. I further contend that decolonisation cannot be achieved without containing the neocolonial impulses of capitalism.