From left: Prof. J Warrican, Director: Caribbean Education Research Centre (University West Indies), Prof. Joyanne De Four-Babb,Research Director: University of Belize, Dr Khotso Nkhatho, Actor and playwright, Dr Laurette Bristol, Director: School of Education- University of West Indies, Cave Hill Barbados, Dr Munyaradzi Mushonga, Programme Director: African Studies in the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (University of the Free State) 

The Faculty of Humanities at CUT held its 3rd Annual Dr. Khotso Nkhatho Prestige Public Research Lecture with the theme "Decoloniality in the Higher Education Sector." Three distinguished academics, Dr. Munyaradzi Mushonga, Dr. Laurette Bristol, and Prof. Mlamuli Hlatshwayo, participated and led the discussions. These discussions were held against the backdrop of current debates on decolonisation in higher education, with an emphasis on the Global South.

By arguing for the relocation of universities in the Global South and addressing the colonialism that appears to be haunting Global South colleges in Africa and the Caribbean, the scholars were able to broaden the scope of their argument, conversing on the intersections of knowledge and how to best challenge and demolish the epistemic inequalities that are engendered by hegemonic educational praxis in the academic disciplines, pedagogy, and content knowledge of Global South universities. 

The speakers emphasised the importance of positionality in discourses that call for an emancipatory approach as a counter-narrative at the junction of positivistic methodological approaches, capitalism epistemology, and hegemony. The lecture focused on the amplification of African epistemic lenses in the production of knowledge and the comprehension of the lived experiences of people in the Global South who have been marginalised and driven to the periphery of knowledge domains for centuries. The ensuing prestige lecture inspired hope and sparked fresh ideas.

Uploaded: 22 August 2024