What We Do

The University of Michigan Global Postcolonialisms Collective is a transdisciplinary endeavor that aims to bring together academics, artists, and activists working to expand the boundaries of postcolonial studies and engaging in other forms of de- and anti-colonial social practices. We strive to attract individuals not only from the conventional postcolonial scholarship of English departments, but from numerous disciplines, fields, and languages, including but not limited to anthropology, comparative literature, history, sociology, religion, fine arts, communication, economics, psychology, and the natural and health sciences. We anticipate that our interdisciplinary endeavors will lead to collaborations with numerous other RIWs, including Critical Contemporary Studies, Transnational Contemporary Literature, African History and Anthropology Workshop, and Latino/a Studies, among others whose focus necessarily engages with the ongoing material and discursive consequences of empire.

The inclusive nature of our mission is inscribed in our name: “global” signifies a spatial openness to studies of postcolonial social formations in any and all geographic milieus; likewise, it acknowledges alternative genealogies of colonialism. “Postcolonialisms” in the plural recognizes the temporal indeterminacy of the very term “postcolonial” and demonstrates our willingness to deconstruct conventional periodizations of colonial histories. Lastly, “collective” reflects our receptivity to the work of artists and activists which we believe will enrich scholarly projects and vice versa. We are excited to collaborate with faculty and graduate students across departments, as well as intellectuals beyond UM’s campus to interrogate ongoing iterations of colonial and imperial violence both in academic and public spheres.

For more information on Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshops, please go to this link: http://www.rackham.umich.edu/academics/rii/interdisciplinary-workshops