What is your role at the European Institute, and how does your role relate to the Beyond Eurocentrism programme?
The tenets of the BE programme cross-cut my doctoral research on racialisation in education, the content I lecture on as Guest Teacher for the MSc module ‘Racial Diversity and Conflict in Europe’, and my role as the PhD representative on the EI’s equity, diversity, and inclusion committee.
I also contributed to last year’s MSc workshop on decolonising the curriculum and helped organise the first BE events back in 2020. Whether it’s discussing the programme during EDI committee meetings, advertising BE lectures in class, or organising a ‘Critical European Studies’ conference with one of my PhD colleagues, going beyond Eurocentrism is at the heart of my work at the department.
What do you think about the EI's commitment to going beyond Eurocentrism?
Good teaching and good research are critical – going beyond Eurocentrism is one facet of this critical stance. As such, I consider the BE programme central to everything we do at the EI.
This includes discussions about what ‘going beyond’ actually entails (and where, literally, we’re going) as well as what ‘Eurocentrism’ may refer to. For me, the thrust of BE is expansive, from diversifying our teaching to re-thinking our recruitment, but the range of opinions and approaches in our interdisciplinary department are equally important and generative for us to ‘go beyond’.
Lastly, the commitment to go beyond is hardly new. The BE programme formalises efforts that were already happening across the department, so it is exciting to see concentrated attention (and funding!) devoted to this.
Do you have any highlights from your time at the EI that relate to the focus of the Beyond Eurocentrism programme?
In many ways, doing this questionnaire is the highlight: to see critical, inclusive, anti-racist, and decolonial approaches to teaching and researching Europe being formally recognised and supported. I remember conversations I had with MSc classmates in 2018, how we wished for more opportunities to discuss Europe critically and decolonially in the department. It’s great to see how such a space has now been formalised.
What parts of the Beyond Eurocentrism programme do you find the most exciting?
Anything that involves our students! Their critical questions and feedback help us be and do better, and it’s exciting to see a new generation of researchers going beyond Eurocentrism in their classwork and extracurricular involvement.