Borders - Dr. Kathryn Medien & Dr. Kavita Ramakrishnan in conversation with PhD Candidate Moé Suzuki

In this seminar series ‘Decolonising Academia: Realisation and Beyond’, we focus on what ‘decolonisation’—a term that has gained much traction in recent times and has generated various critique—entails in academia, and the role of academics in challenging colonial structures that form the foundations of the modern world. This seminar series is organised by PhD researchers in International Development and Politics: Francesca Chiu, Touseef Mir, and Moé Suzuki, supported by the School of International Development and the University of Sanctuary.

In the third session of the seminar series, we discuss the theme of borders. Borders have a somewhat more obvious connection to colonialism in terms of division of nation-states by colonial powers, as well as the violence of nation-state borders that inhibit certain people’s mobility while facilitating others. In this session, we explore the theme of borders not just in terms of nation-state borders but also in more metaphorical and epistemological ways, such as everyday bordering practices in academia and society at large, racism, the privileging of English as the dominant language in academia, and what is (not) considered to be knowledge. We invite Dr. Kathryn Medien from The Open University and Dr. Kavita Ramakrishnan from UEA to discuss the theme in conversation with Moé Suzuki, PhD researcher in Politics at UEA. This will be a conversational-style event, with a short Q&A at the end.