Learning from inside and outside the Business School
The Decolonisation Seminar Series was created to explore the histories, theories, and practices of decolonisation within higher education and the business school context.
Central to this work has been our seminar series, which began in 2022 with a series of guest-led events, and continued in 2024 with seminars organised and developed by staff across the School. The series provided a platform for staff and students to explore histories, interrogate curricula, and reflect on how colonial legacies shape contemporary academic practice. From the outset, the seminars fostered rich conversations across the School. These discussions ranged from interrogating the role of empire in the University’s past to exploring how business curricula can better reflect
diverse perspectives and histories. Understanding the context of this work was equally crucial. We began the series with a seminar looking specifically at history, which included the specific history of the Business School. Activities such as the business history mini-series highlighted how corporate and institutional histories intersect with colonialism, providing a lens through which to examine present-day practices and consider potential futures. These events emphasised that decolonisation is not abstract, it is embedded in institutional structures, relationships, and curricula.
The series also recognised that decolonisation can be uncomfortable. By creating safe and reflective spaces, participants were encouraged to engage with challenging questions, confront assumptions, and navigate disagreement constructively. This environment enabled honest, critical discussions while acknowledging the emotional dimensions of the work.
Collaboration and co-production were central to the series’ success. Staff and students were active contributors, sharing research, leading workshops, and helping develop creative outputs. We were able to support colleagues to explore their own interests as well as engaging with external partners, including heritage and arts organisations, further enriched the series, bringing diverse perspectives and innovative approaches to decolonial practice.
Key ideas explored across the series include:
Understanding context
Recognising and responding to institutional histories and legacies of colonialism
Decolonising the curriculum
Integrating decolonial approaches into curriculum design and pedagogy
Arts-based and creative methods
Art-based, embodied, and interdisciplinary methods for teaching and research
Collaborative partnerships
Partnerships with communities, organisations, and external stakeholders
Reflexive practice
Reflecting on practice and learning from experience
Imagining other futures
Strategies for sustaining long-term institutional change and inclusive practices
Contributors to the seminar series
Professor Bobby Banerjee, Bayes Business School; Professor Finola Kerrigan, Birmingham Business School, Dr Chris Jeppesen, King’s College London; Mukaka Kasonde, University of Huddersfield Business School; Professor Stephanie Decker, Birmingham Business School; Dr Shaun Ruggunan, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Dr Simon Down, University of Birmingham; Flora Key, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts; Rachel Reddihough, New Vic Borderlines; Dujon Smith, Accenture Black Founder’s Development Programme; Tanisha Hicks-Beresford, Bristol Cathedral School; Clarice Metzger, Bayes Business School; Professor Sally Everett, King’s College London; Dr Inya Egbe, Birmingham Business School; Professor Donna Ladkin, Birmingham Business School; Dr Yi Liu, Birmingham Business School; Dr Kamilya Suleymenova, Birmingham Business School; Dr Yao Yao, Birmingham Business School; Dr Julie McDonald, Birmingham Business School; Dr Thomas Sebastian, Birmingham Business School; Professor Rohit Varman, Birmingham Business School; Dr Alice Ronson, University of Bristol; Dr Bronwen Burton, University of Bristol; Dr Joycelin Eze-Okubuiro, University of Leicester; Professor Stephen Cummings, Victoria University of Wellington; Sharon Anyango, Maastricht University; Vicky Wallace, Library Services, University of Birmingham; Dr Nicole Basaraba Coventry University; Professor Sally Wyatt Maastricht University; Marcia Dunkley, Black Walks Heritage Network; Professor Krzysztof Stachowiak, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan; Dr Kelly Rogers, University of Birmingham; Dr Sharin McDowall-Emefiele, University of Birmingham; Alexandre Faria Brazilian School of Public Administration and Management, Fundação Getulio Vargas; Professor Elena Giovannoni, University of Birmingham; Professor Keith Hoskin, University of Birmingham, Professor Chandana Alawattage, University of Glasgow; Gabrielle Hemmings, University of Birmingham
Explore our other project activities:
Decolonising a Business School 