This series has been canceled due to low registration. If you would like to attend this event in the future, please email Lauren Andraski at

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As a precursor to the 2022 Posner Center Symposium on Decolonizing: Beyond the Buzz, join us for a recap of last year’s sessions. These particular sessions will help set the stage with personal reflection, discussions about the importance of language, and learning about the racial equity gaps in the sectors of international development, scientific research, and the health sector. Tickets are free if you have already registered for the 2022 Symposium. Symposium attendees may register for all sessions and select those you plan to attend on the following page.

Get a taste of these sessions with our video recap of the 2021 Symposium here.

SESSIONS

The Power of Connection: Foundations of Identity & Empathy with Syah B

September 7 | 1pm-2pm MST | In person at the Posner Center

Creating a truly equitable world is a vision we all may share. However there are personal pitfalls that can distract from this goal. The values of white supremacy and colonization, do not only create inequities. In quiet ways, these values seek to divide us from our cultures, our communities, and even ourselves. This session seeks to reconnect you to yourself and others. By slowing down and reflecting on our identities, values, and how we connect, we can better sustain our work to be impactful, collaborative, and inclusive. Through interactive activities, our session will provide a deeper understanding of personal identity, self-care, and regularly assessing and meeting the needs of your community in ways that minimize harm and maximize effectiveness. As we say at Deep Dive DEI “Human Connection will take us wherever we’re meant to go.”

Syah will be recreating this session live and in person at the Posner Center.

The Racial Equity Index with Uma Mishra-Newbery

September 21 | 8:30am-9:30am MST | Virtual

The Racial Equity Index is working to build the first ever index for racial equity in global development. Join us as we take you through our findings of our Global Mapping Survey in which we worked to map the state of racism within Global Development. Learn more about the indicators that the Racial Equity Index developed, our findings from our survey and the data analysis, and how we will be using these indicators to build the index moving forward.

We will watch the recording of this session, followed by a live, virtual discussion with Uma.

The Impact of Racism and Colonialism on Scientific Research and the Health Sector in Africa with ReGen Science Fund’s Tadiwanashe Dylan Dondoro

October 5 | 8am-9:30am MST | Virtual

This session will discuss the effects that colonialism and racism have had on Africa’s health and science sectors through exploitation, colonialism, and introduction of capitalism. During the colonial period, medical resources and services were brought in only to meet the needs of the Europeans and Africans were not adequately catered for. Colonial healthcare and public health created a large difference in medical care between Europeans and Africans, with the latter receiving poor quality treatment, thus institutionalising racism within the health sector. For example, African scientists contribute only 5% of Scientific literature in the world, and work contributed by Black scientists is dismissed or regarded as redundant. Additionally, Africa represents approximately 25% of global vaccine demand yet 99% of these vaccines are imported, leaving only 1% being manufactured in Africa.

We will watch the recording of this session, followed by a live, virtual discussion with Tadiwanashe.

Colonialism, Inferiorisation, and the Contemporary Talk about Decolonising the African Mind: The Nigerian Experience with Ada Agada

October 21 | 8:30am-9:30am MST | Virtual

In this session, Ada argues that the most harmful impact of colonialism in Africa, and Nigeria in particular, is the infliction of a colonial mentality that continues to manifest itself in two dominant ways, through the entrenching of an inferiority complex exemplified by the average Nigerian’s exaggeration of values attached to whiteness; and the creation of a ruling elite that regards itself as imperial successors of departing colonialists rather than as a leadership instrument for the rejuvenation of post-independence Nigeria.

We will watch the recording of this session, followed by a live, virtual discussion with Ada.

The Dehumanizing Discourse of Resilience with Malaka Shwaikh

November 2 | 8:30am-9:30am MST | Virtual

The discourse of resilience is dehumanizing in how it imposes mythical terms on the colonized people worldwide. It deals with them as if they have supernatural ‘coping mechanisms,’ romanticizes them as exemplary in ‘enduring’ everything, obscures their humanity, reduces the depravity of colonial violence, and ignores layers of structural violence they continue to face. It also normalizes the colonizer’s violence, reduces its severity, and frees you from your responsibility and the feeling of guilt for not doing enough because of an expectation that the colonized are resilient enough and will come out stronger. If colonial violence is hardly protested, the colonizer will continue with these violations, expecting no outcry or calls for accountability.

We will watch the recording of this session, followed by a live, virtual discussion with Malaka.