{"id":5247,"date":"2020-06-05T09:15:39","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T08:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/?p=5247"},"modified":"2020-06-15T12:21:18","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T11:21:18","slug":"stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories of (un)belonging amidst a campaign to decolonise university curricula"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cOur university doesn\u2019t look like a university that is meant for us.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cA sense of belonging never happened for me\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cUnbelonging is something we carry in terms of mentality.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"kent-video-wrapper\"><span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='1140' height='672' src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZuiceoCIBxA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen='true'><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>The event was hosted by <a href=\"https:\/\/decoloniseukc.org\/\">Decolonise UoK<\/a>, a student-led group at Kent that\u2019s campaigning for cultural democracy. The students, many of whom are studying law, argue that current university curricula marginalise historically underrepresented or oppressed groups. Building on movements such as #liberatemydegree, \u201cWhy is My Curriculum White?\u201d and a Kent Student Union campaign to \u201cDiversify My Curriculum\u201d, Decolonise UoK seek a liberated curriculum that not only reflects global diversity but also promotes inclusion, tackles exclusion, and engenders a sense of belonging for all students.<\/p>\n<p>The group takes their inspiration from Kent Law School Reader in Law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/law\/people\/1238\/jivraj-suhraiya\">Dr Suhraiya Jivraj<\/a>, the author of <em>The Religion of Law: Race, Citizenship and Children\u2019s Belonging <\/em>(Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and co-editor of <em>Decolonising Sexualities: Transnational Perspectives, and Critical Interventions<\/em> (online, 2016). Their decolonising campaign is also supported by the Law School\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/sergj\/\">Centre for Sexuality, Race and Gender Justice<\/a> (of which Dr Jivraj is Co-Director).<\/p>\n<p>Decolonise UoK was joined at the event in March by student decolonising groups from Queen Mary University London, Keele University, King\u2019s College London and Lancaster University (and later by Lowkey.) They united on the stage of the Gulbenkian Theatre for a critical discussion (<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/irkeT2aalIE\">available to watch again on YouTube<\/a>) facilitated by Dr Sweta Rajan-Rankin from Kent\u2019s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research. As well as being a chance to find a coherent and cohesive voice, Dr Rajan-Rankin described the discussion as an opportunity \u201cto identify and name the pain of unbelonging.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"kent-video-wrapper\"><span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='1140' height='672' src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/irkeT2aalIE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen='true'><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Students found common ground in their shared experiences. Many said they felt vulnerable in raising their concerns at their institutions (pointing to a \u201cthreat of visibility\u201d), despite being aware that their experiences were adversely impacting their attainment. There was a sense that visions of a meritocratic world weren\u2019t true for them. They expressed frustration at having to keep making the case for representation and described an \u201cinvisible lived experience\u201d, with university marketing campaigns compounding their sense of not being seen or heard.<\/p>\n<p>They urged each other to embrace the discomfort they feel themselves when discussing the decolonising movement and to create safe spaces for repair as they pursue their goals. Safe spaces were particularly important on campuses where physical\/social spaces felt oppressive to students of colour (such as buildings named in honour of men involved in slavery). An earlier \u2018Decolonial Walk\u2019 around the Kent campus led by Kent Law School PhD scholar Anamika Misra, had drawn attention to the county of Kent\u2019s connections with John Locke and slavery.<\/p>\n<p>Lowkey took to the stage in the afternoon, for an inspirational talk (available to <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/k7Jh5DGeq9g\">watch again on YouTube<\/a>), after having earlier recorded <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/kentlawschool\/decolonise-uok-voices-of-unbelonging-featuring-lowkey?in=kentlawschool\/sets\/decolonising-the-curriculum\">a podcast<\/a> with Decolonise UoK students Naima Zayla and Hezhan Kader.<\/p>\n<div class=\"kent-video-wrapper\"><span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='1140' height='672' src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k7Jh5DGeq9g?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen='true'><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>In his introduction, Lowkey said: \u2018I think that sometimes in conversations about decolonisation within educational institutions, what people can miss is that paradoxically what we\u2019re actually talking about is the inclusion of colonialism within the canon.\u2019 He shared a quote from <em>Decolonising the Mind <\/em>by Ngugi wa Thiong&#8217;o: \u2018The physical violence of the battlefield was followed by the psychological violence of the classroom. Where the former was visibly brutal, the latter was visibly gentle. The bullet was the means of physical subjugation, language was the means of the spiritual subjugation.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>At the close of the day, Lowkey told attendees he\u2019d found the event to be \u201cseriously inspiring\u201d and hoped it could be a blueprint that could be applied elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>The event offered an opportunity to reflect on developments since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mg2L7TAR8j4&amp;list=PLbAKlg2H-Hdu-v5ZPBMF6hta3PNe-aSob\">a conference held in March 2019<\/a> at which Decolonise UoK <a href=\"https:\/\/decoloniseukc.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/03\/decolonising-the-curriculum-manifesto-final-2.pdf\">launched a Manifesto<\/a>, underpinned by their own research.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Jivraj said: \u2018Empowering students is still very much necessary so we must find ways to keep facilitating students to articulate their stories. We have certainly been fortunate to work and collaborate with so many creative people of colour who have helped us to find creative means whether art, spoken word, music and podcasts. Through the Kaleidoscope hub activities and a decolonial caf\u00e9 at Queen Mary University, working with other decolonising student groups and the Building the Anti-racist Classroom Collective, students and staff are collectively unleashing depths of story-telling about life at university and beyond.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/Op6AWaeg.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5254 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/Op6AWaeg-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/Op6AWaeg-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/Op6AWaeg-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/Op6AWaeg-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/Op6AWaeg-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Decolonise UoK campaigners <\/strong><strong>Oscar Poku Nsiah Owusu, <\/strong><strong>Gee Semalaar and Naima Zayla reflect on the event:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Oscar:<\/strong> \u2018The\u00a0conference\u00a0meant a lot to me.\u00a0I\u00a0remember going to\u00a0the launch of\u00a0Decolonise UoK and thinking to myself I want to be\u00a0involved. Having a platform to share my\u00a0experience was great. Additionally, hearing\u00a0some of the stories of the other university\u00a0students was exciting.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Being involved in Decolonise UoK has highly contributed to my own sense of belonging especially as a black man. Coming together and sharing stories with my fellow black men lifted a weight off my shoulders. It made me feel a part of bigger family where I was free to share what was going on.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The star of this has been Dr Jivraj. \u00a0I\u00a0really admire and\u00a0applaud Dr Jivraj\u2019s efforts. She has made me more aware of the inherent inequalities in society and has instilled in me\u00a0confidence to speak and do what is right. Everyone needs a Dr Suhraiya Jivraj.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u00a0believe after university, the movement lives on as\u00a0I attempt to decolonise what every\u00a0employment sector\u00a0I might end up.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gee: <\/strong>\u2018This year we have a BAME LGBTI group doing decolonising work. As a student who is new to campus and a trans man of colour it was crucial for me to have a group where I could share and build chosen families. More than any other group, this one has contributed to my feeling a sense of togetherness and belonging at Kent.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Dr Jivraj does a lot of the heavy lifting for the decolonising work and manages to create non-hierarchical spaces of engagement for the student group. Although the dream is to have this work being done in a sustainable manner by students, the fact that the student population is always in transit, makes her role as academic mentor for the decolonising work crucial as it brings in continuity and stability to the work.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>Naima: <\/strong>\u2018It was an empowering experience that has meant an opportunity to demonstrate the extra-curricular work that goes into students and staff who do decolonial and anti-racist work. To show that even though the burden falls on the shoulders of BAME students\/staff who continue to have to explain, resist, and unlearn\/learn their own feelings\/experiences of (un)belonging, it is not a unique experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Dr Jivraj has become a mentor to us all, and selflessly supports and encourages everything we do. She has brought out my voice and has inspired me to unapologetically be the best version of myself in all I do.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Decolonial work needs to occur not just in education but every institution and branch of state. I hope to take all that I have learned and for it reflect in my legal career going forward. To continue to be an ally and part of the movement, and know that it is the collective that will bring about change, not individuals.\u2019<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Voices from the Decolonise UoK Stories of (Un)belonging event:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cNone of our experiences are unique \u2013 it\u2019s happening across the country, across the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cThe risk of raising your voice is the price of unbelonging.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cGrowing up black feels like you have to compromise who you are to be perceived as equal.\u201d<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cWhiteness is not a noun, it\u2019s a verb; a way of doing\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cRacism equals prejudice plus institutional power.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cThe only way for racism to die is for those who have the privilege to share their power.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cOne important lesson is that it is vital that we create spaces outside and beyond the institutions that are built on our oppression. Decolonising does not mean becoming part of oppressive structures or perpetuating the elitism inherent in universities. \u201c<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cThe burden falls on black and brown people to explain, educate and endure racism. It\u2019s physically, mentally, emotionally exhausting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cUniversities are keen to recruit black and brown students but once we\u2019re here, it\u2019s a different story.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cI\u2019m on the brochure\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\u201c<em>Meritocracy \u2013 if you work hard, you\u2019ll make it. This is the biggest lie. It doesn\u2019t consider all the intersects of discrimination that black and brown people face every day<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cI need to see teachers who look like me getting promoted.\u201d<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u2018When we talk about decolonisation, we\u2019re not offering it as a metaphor. It is not an approximation of other experiences of oppression. Decolonisation is not a swappable term for other things we want to do to improve our societies and institutions of learning. Decolonisation doesn\u2019t have a synonym.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Dave Thomas<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\u201cDecolonising as a metaphor doesn\u2019t work, decolonising as a movement does.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Dr Sweta Rajan-Rankin<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Extracts from:<em> Towards Decolonising the University: A Kaleidoscope for Empowered Action <\/em><\/strong>&#8211; a<em> forthcoming Counterpress book by the Decolonise UoK collective with chapters authored by staff and students involved in the decolonising movement at Kent. The following extracts are taken from a chapter authored by Dr Suhraiya Jivraj\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This amazingly accomplished project all run by students &#8211; facilitated by me with a handful of colleagues grew from what I had intended to be a modest experiment in teaching in a final year optional module that I convene \u2013 Race, Religion and Law. The thinking process began three years ago when I had been sitting in an unremarkable departmental meeting until my gentle ruminations became interrupted by \u2018race\u2019 alarm bells. A central university presentation was being delivered that highlighted \u201cblack and Asian\u201d students as having \u201cattainment gaps\u201d followed by a haze of graphs and stats. Instinctive discomfort rose within me as my racism radar picked up on what seemed to me as crass racial stereotyping about the behaviours and achievements of \u201cIndian students\u201d vs \u201cblack students\u201d vs \u201cEast Asian\u201d students. My misgivings about this \u2018data\u2019 were not diminished by \u2018explanations\u2019 of the need for this \u2018equalities\u2019 work because the problem \u2013 disparities in achievement of degree grades &#8211; sounded too much like it lay at the door of the students and not the institutions, and that did not speak to my experience as a former student nor to those now thousands of students I have taught over the last two decades.<\/p>\n<p>Were their experiences in the classroom and on campus impacting their learning experiences and outcomes? I was curious and needed to know but not just anecdotally in my role as their Teacher, Academic Advisor or even as a Chief Examiner, nor even in the form of general student feedback.<\/p>\n<p>I needed to understand this as \u2018data\u2019 through a fully approved qualitative research process that I knew the students would have to undertake themselves, albeit under my supervisory guidance.<\/p>\n<p>After \u2018the conversation with Dave\u2019 (see the Introduction in the book) I designed a plan to embed a research project within the module which would also form part of the assessment. In Spring 2018 I applied for a for a teaching enhancement (TESSA) award which was successful.<\/p>\n<p>The project, originally entitled \u2018BAME students as change actors and co-producers of knowledge: towards an inclusive curriculum\u2019 aimed to empower BAME students to develop academic \u2018capital\u2019 (to use the EDI industry language) and become co-producers of knowledge and stronger stakeholders in their own education within the law school. The project sought to achieve this by facilitating the students to research (through running focus groups) to voice and share with other students their experiences around race, racialisation and (un)belonging on campus, in the classroom and through the curriculum in safe \u2018caf\u00e9\u2019 style spaces. This research would then be disseminated as their collective findings through publication in various formats and a half day workshop.<\/p>\n<p>The project was launched by Dr Jason Arday \u2013 on World Mental Health Day (10 October 2018) \u2013 who gave the keynote to a packed lecture theatre of students who were captivated by his research on black mental health within higher education.<\/p>\n<p>After that event many more students from beyond the law school wanted to get involved. and I applied for a second TESSA grant to ensure that more students could have the opportunity to be involved\u2019 the desire of students to be involved.<\/p>\n<p>The students then set up a committee, a regular reading group and from there the Decolonising the Curriculum project, as they named it, was born.<\/p>\n<p>The manifesto was then launched in March 2019 to an audience of two hundred people. Attendees feedback (including from staff at various HEIs) overwhelmingly reported how much they had learnt and benefited from the power in the room that was created by bringing both students and eminent academics of colour together to explore the themes of the manifesto including tackling racism in the curriculum, on campus, and in classrooms as a key barrier to belonging and attainment.<\/p>\n<p>The Decolonise the Curriculum project 2018\/19 has now officially ended, having successfully achieved its aiming of producing the manifesto. It also appeared as a case study in the recently published UUK and NUS report Closing the Gap (2019) on \u2018BME achievement\u2019 in HE and featured one of the stage three (finalist) project students Joy Olugboyega (who I have taught since stage one as a Certificate in Law student at our Medway Campus on a Widening Participation path) on the front page.\u00a0 The students also provided footage for the UUK promotional materials and presented the manifesto to Baroness Amos (co-author of the report) at its launch conference at SOAS in May 2019.\u00a0 We also attended an event hosted by the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Mr John Bercow MP, who was delighted to be presented with the manifesto. Clearly this work is garnering interest and already having a significant impact beyond the university. The students have won awards for their contribution to Diversity and Inclusion and we have had many enquiries from student groups and academics from other universities, eager to find out more about the work we have done. Both Dave and I as well as the students have provided talks and trainings in a range of departments across the country and abroad including within our own university.<\/p>\n<p>My \u2018next steps\u2019 document compiled for the university\u2019s executive group outlined how key student concerns \u2013 particularly experiences of racism \u2013 as articulated in the manifesto could be addressed in three key areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pedagogy and powerful learning experiences: The colour of our curriculum<\/li>\n<li>Race, identity &amp; belonging: Promoting Inclusion \/ Countering Exclusion<\/li>\n<li>Student voice &amp; co-production with academics: Stakeholders within the university<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As with the manifesto the \u2018next steps\u2019 document specifically responded to the institutionally funded University of Kent Student Success (EDI) Project Phase II strategy which acknowledges the need to affirm that the \u2018white curriculum acts as a barrier to inclusivity\u2019 because \u2018it fails to legitimise contributions to knowledge from people of colour\u2019. It also states &#8211; under the heading \u2018Race, Identity &amp; Belonging\u2019 that: \u201cWe will ensure that our staff body remains diverse, so that our curriculum reflects and addresses a range of perspectives. How can this be operationalised?\u201d It is interesting that this heading ends with a question being posed demonstrating the gap in knowledge and implementation at institutional level. In a sense, the time seemed right to lobby and be hopeful for joined up institutional structural change, that goes beyond reading lists and also tackles racism and other forms of exclusion directly as part of the University\u2019s education and EDI strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Decolonise University of Kent student findings call for more work by scholars of colour, including from the global south, so that the curriculum reflects and addresses a range of experiences whilst also promoting cultural democracy. As stated in the manifesto, this is also crucial to \u201cdevelop all students into critical and analytical thinkers and leaders within their education\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The student\u2019s own suggestion has been to set up what they named Kaleidoscope Hub, coined by Lisa Shoko, Jasmyn Sargeant and Ahmed Memon, as a principled community space where students of colour would feel able to access and develop strong networks of support and sense of belonging and find help to deal with racialization and racism on campus<\/p>\n<p>We set up the Kaleidoscope Network of staff and students of colour and allies. We hoped that this network, in conjunction with the newly formed BAME\/staff of colour network, would be a vehicle to drive forward implantation of the manifesto recommendations including eventually having a more central kaleidoscope hub space.<\/p>\n<p>In a post-Brexit, hostile environment climate where Muslim students also feel hyper-surveilled as a result of the Government\u2019s Prevent Duty there is much still to do but it is clear from what is stated above that the \u201cseismic shift\u201d that needs to take place has begun in some corners at least. Of course, this needs to happen at senior leadership level as well where the student voice and staff-student collaboration must take place beyond working with student union sabbatical officers.<\/p>\n<p>The UUK\/NUS #Closing the Gap report (2019) in which the DecoloniseUKC project (as it was called then) was featured makes five recommendations including the need for universities to have conversations about race. I would also add to that explicitly that those conversations need to be about racism. My experience as an academic lead for a student decolonising the curriculum project is that we are far away from that moment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/DSC_5538.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5252 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/DSC_5538-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/DSC_5538-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/DSC_5538-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/DSC_5538-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/DSC_5538-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/files\/2020\/05\/DSC_5538.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"kent-social-links\"><li><a href='http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula\/&amp;t=Stories of (un)belonging amidst a campaign to decolonise university curricula' target='_blank'><i class='ksocial-facebook' title='Share via Facebook'><\/i><\/a><\/li><li><a href='http:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=Stories of (un)belonging amidst a campaign to decolonise university curricula%20https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula\/' target='_blank'><i class='ksocial-twitter' title='Share via Twitter'><\/i><\/a><\/li><li><a href='https:\/\/plus.google.com\/share?url=https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula\/' target='_blank'><i class='ksocial-google-plus' title='Share via Google Plus'><\/i><\/a><\/li><li><a href='http:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula\/&amp;title=Stories of (un)belonging amidst a campaign to decolonise university curricula' target='_blank'><i class='ksocial-linkedin' title='Share via Linked In'><\/i><\/a><\/li><li><a href='mailto:content=https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula\/&amp;title=Stories of (un)belonging amidst a campaign to decolonise university curricula' target='_blank'><i class='ksocial-email' title='Share via Email'><\/i><\/a><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cOur university doesn\u2019t look like a university that is meant for us.\u201d \u201cA sense of belonging never happened for me\u201d \u201cUnbelonging is something we carry &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/stories-of-unbelonging-amidst-a-campaign-to-decolonise-university-curricula\/\">Read&nbsp;more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38005,"featured_media":5253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[220028,124,199194,28766],"tags":[220110,220111,220028,220112,214361],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5247"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5302,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5247\/revisions\/5302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/law-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}