IR6011 - Decolonial Politics

Students will be given weekly academic input through lectures, interactive workshops and, where possible, site visits to local museums. These will guide their independent study on the module, which will consist in preparing for the weekly workshops and assessments. A workshop will be devoted to advice and guidance on preparing the exhibition portfolio. Students will devise their own essay topic in close consultation with the module leader, and essay guidance will be provided at pertinent points throughout the module. Students will also be expected to engage in group learning activities during workshops, with the support of the module leader.

The module tutor will be available throughout the module for questions and enquiries, whether it be during class time, scheduled office hours, or via email. Additional, individual tutorial time will also be available for all students who wish to take advantage of the opportunity. Students will be introduced to the module assessment criteria during class time so that they are fully aware of how their work will be marked. Feedback on their first assessment, which is designed to encourage creativity and self-reflection, will also feed forward to the second assessment.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
1) Knowledge and understanding of key concepts and theories in decolonial thought
2) Informed overview of key current debates in decolonial politics, including how they are represented in museums

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3) Ability to evaluate and critique decolonial theories and concepts from different perspectives
4) Ability to apply decolonial theories and concepts to a range of contemporary political debates and museum exhibits

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
5) Ability to reflect on one’s own learning in the process of planning a museum exhibit

Formative
Formative feedback will be provided in workshops, tutorials and through Blackboard discussion boards on the exhibition planning process and the development of essay questions.

Summative
1 exhibition project portfolio including 1000 word reflective commentary: 50% (MLO 1, 2, 4, 5)

The project portfolio will include the following:

1. Site plan

2. Titled Exhibition Catalogue to include:

(a) Object descriptors (name of object, size, material and source);

(b) Original object interpretative labels (no more than 80 words per label, up to a total of 750 words)

(c) Up to 5 original interpretative poster boards (no more than 150 words per board)

1 2000 word essay: 50% (MLO 1, 2, 3, 4)

N/A

N/A

Decolonial politics explores how and why Eurocentrism, capitalism and racism have proven more durable than colonialism itself and continue to permeate societies and dominant knowledge systems to this day. Politics is about governments and economies and trade and defence, but just as importantly, it’s about who gets to dominate others in all sorts of ways. Politics is also about the many identifiers that distinguish those who ‘belong’ from those who do not. Belonging to a powerful group tends to bestow privilege, security, confidence and an appetite for risk that can entrench and perpetuate power. In turn, museums are entrusted with discerning what is valuable and worth preserving as heritage, making them remarkably powerful - and hence political – institutions that tell people what should be considered central to their understanding of history, beauty and memory. That is why this module uses museums to understand contemporary decolonial politics.