The Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation recently hosted two ACUSAfrica members at Nelson Mandela University who presented some of their recent work.
Book Launch by Shirley Ann Tate
During her stay, Prof Shirley Ann Tate worked on completing fieldwork for an ongoing project and launched her new book, From Post-Intersectionality to Black Decolonial Feminism: Black Skin Affections.
The launch was co-hosted by the Centre for Women and Gender Studies at Mandela University, and the respondents were Simran Juglal from the Centre and Nombulelo Shange from the University of the Free State.
The launch took the format of a rich discussion between Prof Tate, the respondents and those in attendance, both in-person and online. Questions were raised around colourism, indigenous knowledge systems, and racism within universities.
Seminar by Sharon Stein
Sharon Stein presented a seminar co-hosted by the Engagement and Transformation Portfolio at Mandela University on "A Complexity Approach to Deoclonisation". Prof Stein's work is collaborative and is informed by her membership of the "Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures" collective.
In her presentation, Prof Stein unraveled her own positionality as a white settler in Canada, explored the complexities that contribute to the difficulty of enacting decolonisation while still trapped in the enduring colonised imagination, and laid out seven steps, both forward and back, as practical ways of approaching decolonising work. A vibrant discussion followed.
