Living decolonially (micro)

In week ten, students will learn about commodities with colonial legacies that play an important role in our daily lives. This discussion of material goods leads to a discussion of abstract concepts and their location within a colonial world. We will explore how language can be a tool of decolonisation, and what each of us can do to unlearn colonial thought patterns and knowledge.

Required Readings:

• Mintz, S.W. (1986). Sweetness and Power-The Place of Sugar in Modern History. Penguin Books. Students should focus on the introduction.
• wa Thiong’o, Ngũgĩ. (1986). Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. James Currey. Students should focus on Chapter 1.

Suggested Readings:

• Van Horn, G., Kimmerer, R.W., and Hausdoerffer, J. (2021). Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations, Vol. 1-5.
• Kimmerer, R.W. (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass. Penguin.
• Tenbroek, E. Decolonising Language in History.
• Brown History Podcast. (2021). Ep. 19: Empire Ends (with Dr. Ian Sanjay Patel).