Little acts of decolonisation: finding the cracks in the whiteness of academic writing

Our intention in this symposium is to position the whiteness of academic writing norms as an object of inquiry, from different methodological and onto-epistemological perspectives. As such, we wish to facilitate discussion of counter-colonial, theoretical and pedagogical approaches to this central aspect of both student and educator everyday life. Keenly aware that as subjects we are acted upon as much as we act, we position our inquiry within the cracks of modernity’s rationalised structures, surfaces, and subjectivities. We intend to curate a space inside which participants can consider how they might momentarily postpone its containing hold, and open the possibility for imagining the world otherwise.

Governing principles
1. Relationality is at the heart of our process and place.
2. Our process and place are governed by mutuality, respect and the weaving of dignity.
3. Our pedagogical process aligns with that of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective , and its Broccoli Seed Agreement.


Timetable:
9.45-10am Online check-in
10-10.10 Welcome and ground rules [Juliet Henderson]
10.10-10.40 Positionality Panel [ALL]
What drew us here? What do we want academic writing to look and feel like? Our curiosity.
Audience Q&A plus postings on Chat
10.40-11.00 Introductions in small groups: your positionality
11.00-11.45am Contextual interventions:
15 minutes plus 5 minutes response [Sayan Dey, Richard Hall]
Audience Q&A
11.45-12pm Break. Opportunity to post keynote responses on Padlet
12-12.45pm Practical interventions:
15 minutes plus 5 minutes response [AN/JH].
Audience Q&A plus postings in Chat
12.45-1.30pm Break. Opportunity for more posting on Padlet
1.30-2.00pm Freewriting session led by Bally Kaur
2.00-2.30pm Speed threesomes. Half an hour of 6 minutes in different breakout groups to share what you have got out of the symposium
2.30-3.00pm Summary and closing.

Contributors
Dr Sayan Dey, Postdoctoral Fellow, Wits Centre for Diversity Studies, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Professor Richard Hall, Richard Hall, Professor of Education and Technology, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Dr Juliet Henderson, Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Dr Bally Kaur, Senior Lecturer, University of Derby, UK
Amrita Narang, Quality Enhancement and Standards Specialist, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education | PhD candidate, Coventry University