Curricular Dissonance:
Teaching English Literature as a Postcolonialist, or, the Power of Voice
Dr. Justine Seran
Edited by Maria Elena Torres-Quevedo
Art by Iara Silva https://www.instagram.com/iiaraz_/
I taught pre-honours literature at the University of Edinburgh for three years, and it never ceased to frustrate me, as a researcher specialised in contemporary literature, postcolonial criticism, and women’s studies, to expose future generations to the very curriculum centred on dead white men that I strove to escape by focusing my research on exploring (and celebrating) the work of living women of colour. Critiquing an antiquated curriculum and suggesting a wider breadth of reading to students during tutorials is one thing, but embedding diversity on the level of course design and organisation is another.
