Racism in the Academy: Global perspectives on multiple forms of racism and struggles for equity

Racism in the Academy: Global perspectives on multiple forms of racism and struggles for equity is the webinar to be hosted by the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, (IESALC), the University of Bath, UK, and the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF), Argentina, on November 18, 2021.

Connection data
10.00 am – 11.30 am  (h. Caracas) | 11.00 am -12.30 pm (h. Buenos Aires) | 14.00 pm – 15.30 pm (h. London)

Zoom webinar | Register at https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9qk1YfVDQ6KPoQtjufnBsg

The event will be in English with simultaneous translation to Spanish

About the webinar

Racism is both interconnected and specific across geographic boundaries and cultures; and manifests itself in a variety of visible and invisible forms. There are also deep historical roots to slavery and colonialism which chain the past to the present, and the growth of new forms of exploitation of racialized peoples.

Higher education systems legitimate and reproduce racism while simultaneously attempting to challenge and overcome it. This webinar outlines the multiple ways in which intersectional racism operates within higher education across national contexts. It includes an analysis of institutional racism, epistemic violence, and the communities that higher education excludes. It highlights inspirational examples of movements, policies, and strategies to overcome racism and outlines key tasks for the present and the future.

UNESCO IESALC has the privilege to bring into conversation Professor Daniel Mato (Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Argentina) and Professor Rajani Naidoo (University of Bath, UK), two leading scholars of higher education who have also championed initiatives to bring about positive change across a range of international contexts.

Speakers

Daniel Mato is Principal Researcher, National Council for Scientific and Technical Research – (CONICET), and Director of UNESCO Chair in Higher Education and Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples in Latin America, Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF), Argentina. Professor Mato chairs the Initiative for the Eradication of Racism in Higher Education in Latin America. He has published extensively in the fields of cultural diversity, racism and higher education, and culture, communication and social transformation.

Rajani Naidoo is UNESCO Chair in Higher Education Management, Director of the International Centre for Higher Education Management and Head of the Race Equality Taskforce at the University of Bath, UK. Before this, she contributed to an alternative higher education institution that was set up to act as a model for transformation in post-apartheid South Africa. Her publications and research projects focus on the escalation of competition, audit and bureaucracy in higher education, and the contribution of universities to inclusive development and social justice.

Moderator

Dra. Emma Sabzalieva is a Senior Policy Analyst at UNESCO IESALC, leading on a range of projects including the futures of higher education, new forms of student mobility, and academic freedom. Emma Sabzalieva is a comparative and international higher education specialist. Her research focusses on the effects of geopolitics and globalization on higher education policy, and she has extensive experience in higher education policy analysis, teaching, and university administration.

Agenda / Caracas time

Additional resources

For further learning and reflection on race equality in higher education, participants are encouraged to access and share these readings/recordings:

Mato, D. (2020). The multiple forms of racism and the challenges it poses to higher education systems. Alternautas, 7(2), 37–49. http://www.alternautas.net/blog/2020/10/7/the-multiple-forms-of-racism-and-the-challenges-it-poses-to-higher-education-systems. – En español: Mato, D. (2020). Las múltiples formas del racismo y los desafíos que plantean a los sistemas de Educación Superior. De Prácticas y Discursos, 9(13), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.30972/dpd.9134412

Mato, D. (2020, June 29). The George Floyd case and racism in higher education systems and institutions. UNESCO IESALC. https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/en/2020/06/29/the-george-floyd-case-and-racism-in-higher-education-systems-and-institutions/– En español: Mato, D. (2020, June 24). El caso George Floyd y elracismoen los sistemas e instituciones de educación superior. UNESCO IESALC. https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/2020/06/24/el-caso-george-floyd-y-el-racismo-en-los-sistemas-e-instituciones-de-educacion-superior/

Mato, D (2021) En español: Micro-video exponiendo las conclusiones del estudio “Etnicidad y Educación en Argentina: Pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes e inclusión educative en Argentina “Documento de referencia preparado para el Informe GEM 2020 América Latina y el Caribe: “Inclusión y educación: Todos y todas sin excepción” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxL0C7I4dlQ –  In Spanish with English subtitles: Micro-video presenting the conclusions of the study “Ethnicity and Education in Argentina: Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples and educational inclusion in Argentina” Reference document prepared for the 2020 GEM Report Latin America and the Caribbean: “Inclusion and education: All and all without exception ” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4cMQGnMbK0&t=4s

Naidoo, R. (2021). HE for the Global Good: Visions, Spectres and Collective Action (Briefing Note Prepared for UNESCO’s International Institute for HE Futures HE Project). UNESCO IESALC. https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Naidoo-EN-1.pdf. – En español: Naidoo, R. (2021). Educación Superior (ES) para el bien global: Visiones, Espectros y AcciónColectiva (Nota Informativa Preparada Para El Proyecto de ES Del Instituto Internacional Para Los Futuros de La ES de La UNESCO). UNESCO IESALC. https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Naidoo-ES-1.pdf

University of Bath (2021) Where are we going to? Whither Higher Education? A conversation between Margaret Heffernan and Rajani Naidoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynsl-42DQs8

UNESCO IESALC. (2021). Thinking higher and beyond: Perspectives on the futures of higher education to 2050. UNESCO IESALC. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377530. – En español: UNESCO IESALC. (2021). Pensar más allá de los límites: Perspectivas sobre los futuros de la educación superior hasta 2050. UNESCO IESALC. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377529

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