Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Anticolonial, Postcolonial, Decolonial
School	History and Cultures
Department	African Studies & Anthropology
Module Code	09 37917
Module Lead	Dr Kate Skinner
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Exclusions
Description	This module offers a cutting-edge interdisciplinary overview of anticolonial, postcolonial, and decolonial thought and struggle, beginning in the mid C20 and culminating in present times. The module will foreground Africa and other formerly colonised regions of the world as sites of knowledge production, from which European and North American modernities and epistemologies can be critiqued, alternative forms of knowledge revalorised, and the contemporary world order subjected to scrutiny and challenge. Thus beyond the obvious fact of putting African, Black and Global South authors on the reading list, this module will introduce students to core concepts and theories in anticolonial, postcolonial, and decolonial scholarship, which they apply across their degree programmes and in their adult lives, to enhance their critical analysis of knowledge and power. The module will promote students’ close reading skills through intensive weekly engagement with selected texts. But it will also provide points of connections into historical and contemporary struggles, from decolonisation in Africa and the Caribbean in the mid C20 to Rhodes Must Fall in present times.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Analyse the core arguments developed and advanced by selected anticolonial, postcolonial, and decolonial thinkers, with reference to the historical and intellectual contexts in which they worked. Compare and contrast the works of African and Black authors with those from other formerly colonised regions, identifying connections and divergences. Explain key analytical terms and concepts, and demonstrate an understanding of critical commentary upon them. Critically evaluate the relevance and applicability of anticolonial, postcolonial, and decolonial modes of analysis to historical and contemporary struggles.
Assessment	37917-01 : 1500 word written assignment - Essay 1 : Coursework (40%) 37917-02 : 2000 word written assignment - Essay 2 : Coursework (60%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 1 x 1500 word written assignment (40%)
Other
Reading List