{"id":581,"date":"2017-03-21T11:52:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T11:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crab.port.ac.uk\/?p=581"},"modified":"2017-03-21T11:54:41","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T11:54:41","slug":"liberate-my-degree-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crab.port.ac.uk\/?p=581","title":{"rendered":"‘Liberate my degree’ event"},"content":{"rendered":"

A report by CRaB member and postgraduate researcher Carlus Hudson.<\/p>\n

On March 16th, University of Portsmouth Student Union hosted a panel event \u201cLiberate My Degree\u201d<\/a>. It brought students, academics and activists together as part of wider National Union of Students campaigns on the BAME attainment gap in higher education and lack of diversity in university curricula. This event continued the union\u2019s \u201cRace in Your Face\u201d campaign from last academic year that highlighted ways in which communities perpetuate racial prejudice and discrimination. Members of the panel were Aadam Muuse (Black Students\u2019 Officer \u2013 National Union of Students), Dr. Olivia Rutazibwa (Senior Lecturer in International Development \u2013 University of Portsmouth), Dr. Charles Leddy-Owen (Senior Lecturer in Sociology \u2013 University of Portsmouth), Kavushik Mohan Raj and Lianne Walters (students).<\/p>\n

This panel event was one of many that have taken place on campuses across the UK, reflecting the indignation felt \u2013 especially by BAME students, lecturers and other university staff \u2013 at racism and colonialism embedded in higher education. The fallout from Brexit has provoked a sense of urgency among anti-racists, but the BAME attainment gap and the eurocentrism of what\u2019s taught at universities reveal that racism and colonialism run far more deeply in British society. Paul Gilroy\u2019s After Empire: Convivial Culture or Postcolonial Melancholia?<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 written over a decade ago but more relevant now than ever \u2013 details a cultural failure to come to terms with the British Empire, a preference for erasing the parts of this history that don\u2019t fit the agenda of continuing the neo-colonialist project today. We live in a society where Mary Seacole<\/a> can even be considered to be removed from school curricula, while a statue of Cecil Rhodes still stands at Oxford University<\/a>. A government minister sets trade policy that even his own staff dismiss as \u2018Empire 2.0\u2019<\/a>. University authorities often look towards the most limited solution that \u201cproblematises BME staff and students, and places the burden on them to improve \u2018diversity\u2019 and represent marginalised groups. The problem with these measures is that firstly, they isolate the experience of BME students and staff even more, and also establish \u2018tokenism<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Aadam Muuse covered many of these issues in the opening speech. After that the event opened up and had a great deal of participation from the audience, with the panellists having a more minor role to chime in on the room\u2019s discussion. Many issues were covered such as the need to decolonise<\/em> rather than diversify<\/em> the curriculum and the responsibility of educational institutions to address eurocentrism. Experiences of racism were shared.<\/p>\n

A full recording of the event has been uploaded and made publicly available by UPSU Education & Democracy officer Dolapo Bolaji<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A report by CRaB member and postgraduate researcher Carlus Hudson. On March 16th, University of Portsmouth Student Union hosted a panel event \u201cLiberate My Degree\u201d. It brought students, academics and activists together as part of wider National Union of Students campaigns on the BAME attainment gap in higher education and lack of diversity in university curricula. This event continued the union\u2019s \u201cRace in Your Face\u201d campaign from last academic year that highlighted ways in which communities perpetuate racial prejudice and discrimination. Members of the panel were Aadam Muuse (Black Students\u2019 Officer \u2013 National Union of Students), Dr. Olivia Rutazibwa (Senior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,22,3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs","category-news","category-news_events","category-pastevents"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/unnamed-e1490097102123.jpg?fit=1371%2C611&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8bhxC-9n","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":547,"url":"https:\/\/crab.port.ac.uk\/?p=547","url_meta":{"origin":581,"position":0},"title":"Race in your Face 2: Liberate My Degree","author":"Charles Leddy-Owen","date":"10th February 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This event organised by University of Portsmouth students may be of interest to CRaB members\/followers: \"Calls for the decolonization of the curriculum have become a global anthem amongst University students today. Perhaps the most profound movement of decolonization has been the Rhodes Must Fall movement in South Africa. This movement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News and Events"","block_context":{"text":"News and Events","link":"https:\/\/crab.port.ac.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/unnamed-e1490097102123.jpg?fit=1200%2C535&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/unnamed-e1490097102123.jpg?fit=1200%2C535&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/unnamed-e1490097102123.jpg?fit=1200%2C535&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/unnamed-e1490097102123.jpg?fit=1200%2C535&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/unnamed-e1490097102123.jpg?fit=1200%2C535&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":566,"url":"https:\/\/crab.port.ac.uk\/?p=566","url_meta":{"origin":581,"position":1},"title":"Event: Anti-racist perspectives on ‘fundamental British values’","author":"CRaB admin","date":"27th February 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Citizenship, 'Race' and Belonging research network presents: Anti-racist perspectives on 'fundamental British values' Monday 20 March, 3-5pm Milldam Building LE0.05, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Road, PO1 3AS Speakers: Moazzam Begg, Outreach Director, Cage Sarah Keenan, Lecturer, School of Law, Birkbeck College Kojo Koram, Lecturer, School of Law, University of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News and Events"","block_context":{"text":"News and Events","link":"https:\/\/crab.port.ac.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Justice_bw.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Justice_bw.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Justice_bw.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Justice_bw.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/crab.port.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Justice_bw.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":646,"url":"https:\/\/crab.port.ac.uk\/?p=646","url_meta":{"origin":581,"position":2},"title":"SYMPOSIUM: News practices and media law in Africa: Developing a research agenda.","author":"Jessica Moody","date":"23rd May 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Date: 1 June 2017 Venue: University of Portsmouth \u00a0Park Building, Room 2.07 Information: https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/home\/Public?preview=News+Practices+%26+media+law+in+Africa.pdf Event registration: https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/news-practices-media-law-in-africa-developing-a-research-agenda-tickets-34797501263 Description: This symposium will examine the changes and tendencies of news practices, media freedom and media law in Africa. 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