Teaching

This photo is of a community mosaic and was taken on Lodge Lane in Liverpool UK

“To produce knowledge of the world through the hermeneutics of the sufferers rather than via the abstractions of the privileged“

– Robbie Shilliam, Black redemption, not (white) abolition

My teaching consists of…

A philosophy of ‘world repair’ The concept of world repair emanates from Professor of International Relations Robbie Shilliam’s (2013:142) discussions of worlding, where worlding is a “ hermeneutical device” which proposes that a vital task of the commitment to gaining a political understanding of international is the aim of apprehending a possibility of ‘being’ in our knowledge – being orientated by our circumstances of societal, individual, and institutional power as we look onto the world. A teaching philosophy of world repair encourages a pedagogy which requires not separating a person’s culminated lived experience from its worldly context, so that endeavours to solve and reflect upon crises of international politics necessitate teaching students how to epistemologically, walk away, as sociologist professor AbdouMaliq Simone argues, from the norms and values we know, and the world one has made, in order to more effectively understand Other worlds. A teaching methodology consisting of: Theory-based empirical studies Teaching students how to use observation to gather empirical data while being conscious of which worldviews/theories they are employing when they observe real-world phenomena. I operate with an Intepretativist research methodology, taking an epistemological stance which maintains that a strict distinction between facts and values is untenable. I challenge students to reconsider the possibility of neutral observations of political phenomena, instead showing how values, beliefs, and different sets of meaning, do not take away from the factual essence of problems, but instead better exhibit how multiple and conflicting interpretations of political events can coexist (Pülzl and Trieb 2007:99). I focus on teaching students what taking up an anti-colonial lens for viewing local, national, and international events might look like. Inclusive learning e.g., multiple sources of knowledge Encouraging students to question what it means to know by offering them multiple sources of learning, (i.e. diverse texts, podcasts, visual media, art, theatre, and music) and upholding the value of knowledge that emanates from sources outside the university and incorporating it into learning. This includes reflecting on and encouraging physical site visits to spaces of community activism; local civic religious, and indigenous movements; and the policy world. Student-centric learning Positioning students vis a vis the material to provide meaningful engagement with the course and creating a curriculum that prioritises the student’s ability to come to understand the issues of the module in their own individual ways Visual journeying Using visual methodologies such as journeying or mind mapping. The usage of such tools offers students a chance to visually see the development of their conceptual understanding of the course content week by week.

I am the module convenor of the following modules. Please note that this class list does not include team-taught lectures or temporary convenorships.

POLI265: Politics of race and marginalisation

Aims The module introduces students to the critical notions of race and racialization and the subsequent development of marginalised communities and individuals. Students will understand, describe and critique the role of race in British and International politics, analyse and evaluate the theory and practices of racialization and marginalisation, and be able to evaluate racial tropes and the undercurrents of stereotypes in the dealings between state and citizens. Throughout the 12 weeks, we examine the following topics: The racialisation of British Politics Immigration and Race Slavery and Decolonisation Islamophobia and Orientalism The Windrush scandal Grenfell US Civil Rights and Beyond; From Civil Rights to the Movement for Black Lives

POLI526 (POLI;Geo;Law) /POLI516 (Hist): Anticolonial legacies in International Politics

Aims The module aims to provide an overview of the theoretical foundations and debates of anti-colonial and decolonial thought and their intersections and disconnects with studies of international affairs. It introduces and contextualises modern and past institutions of international politics within institutions and histories of empire, to enable students to critically assess different political efforts to contest national and international policy interventions around the globe on the basis of scholarship that is critical of systemic racism, capitalism, western hegemony, and heteronormativity. It also exposes students to lectures and readings that introduce the most nuanced perspectives on the state of the field. Throughout the 12 weeks, we examine the following topics: In-theory topics • Introduction: Understanding a ‘colonial’ International Politics: Why is it necessary to acknowledge International Politics as a colonial artefact? • Unsettling genealogies: When does International Politics begin: If we question when in history International Politics begins, how does this affect our knowledge of the world? • Querying sovereignty and the Nation State: If we question how global order is organised, what impact does this have on how we conceive world politics? • Worlding beyond the West: What is gained from examining international politics from a different geographical vantage point? • Race and the colour line: racial hierarchy as a global system: What is the significance of acknowledging race as a transnational stratum of politics? • ‘Decolonizing’ epistemologies: What specifically constitutes uptaking decolonial research methods? In-practice topics: On the politics of climate change On state intervention and imperial insecurity On political economy and Black Marxist thought On development studies and epistemic blackness On the migrant crisis, and the politics of care