Education too white and western? Anti-racism collective wants to re-examine curricula
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Foto: TheDigitalArtist (via Pixabay)
The remembrance of the abolition of slavery has centre stage at the current Anti-Racism Awareness Week. The students in charge of organising the week feel that the university has missed opportunities in the curriculum: they argue that, too often, colonialism is mentioned as an addendum to the main point.
This year marks 150 years since the abolishment of slavery; a good opportunity to broaden our view of the history of slavery and its consequences, according to the organisers of the Anti-Racism Awareness Week. They have their sights set on the university curriculum, which they feel pays too little mind to colonialism and the history of slavery. The organisers feel that knowledge is essential when it comes to understanding present-day institutionalised racism.
Sensitive topics
There are daily lectures on campus over the course of ARA-Week, with many different guests: scientists, but also artists and activists like the Javanese-Surinamese Christa Wongsodikromo, who will shine a light on the international similarities of colonial domination.
Discord
The ARA-collective was created three years ago, among other reasons due to the lack of education surrounding colonial history and non-western perspectives. Students and employees also called on the university to investigate issues of racism on campus, for which they released a report in 2021 with points of improvement and recommendations. The current ARA-Week’s schedule can be found here.
The ARA-Collective wants to spend the coming days examining education at Radboud University; the idea is to investigate every curriculum. The collective mentions the studies of Philosophy and Art History, which they feel are too white.
To solve the issue of a too-Western perspective in education, every faculty is working on their own Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) department, according to program director of diversity Rona Jualla van Oudenhoven. ‘These will decide whether curricula need to be made more inclusive, as the ARA advocates. The Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Nijmegen School of Management have recently gotten their own DEIs; we hope to make that the case for every faculty before the end of 2023.’
Research
However, according to the ARA that is not enough. They point to a small-scale survey conducted among POC students: 57% indicated they had experienced racism at the university. That is why the students claim that a large-scale investigation into racism on campus is highly necessary.
The ARA-collective would only agree to discuss their week on the condition that the article did not cite them personally. If you’re a student or employee at Radboud University and you have experienced racism, abuse of power, or other kinds of unwanted behaviour, you can talk to a confidential adviser.
Translated by Jasper Pesch
