Decolonizing the curriculum

Abstract

The term ‘decolonizing the curriculum’ is of high currency in higher education in the UK and in local students’ unions at these institutions. This article seeks to give a very brief history and context for why this is fundamental for academic institutions and what role libraries and the scholarly communication sector can play in this movement. I look at why this is so important for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) and othered (otherly minoritized, e.g. disabled, LGBTQ, etc.) students and what steps some libraries have already taken. One of the themes of the UKSG 2019 Conference was ‘diversity and change’; decolonizing the curriculum is exactly that if done correctly. Two presentations from the plenary session provided a good starting point and the article touches on how decolonizing the curriculum may impact research/researchers. It concludes that there is a need for academia to now move past just identifying that there are issues about retention and progression of BAME and othered students and staff, and for both the library and information and scholarly communication sectors to act to address this now.