How do we decolonise UCT?

Following the removal of the Rhodes statue, a great deal of debate on campus has been focused on decolonising the university. Various commentators (students, staff as well as academics from other institutions) have used a number of platforms to grapple with questions such as what decolonisation means for a university in Africa, and where the process must begin - or if it has already begun.

Universities enmeshed in the fabric of colonialism - Assoc Prof Zine Magubane, Van Zyl Slabbert Visiting Chair, Boston College, US

"Next time your philosophy professor teaches you Hegel's 'master and bondsman' and does not mention Haiti, ask him why."– Harry Garuba

Knowledge of the marginalised essential to curriculum - Assoc Prof Harry Garuba, School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and Linguistics

A decolonised curriculum has space for European discourse - Ramabina Mahapa, SRC President

Find the points of intersection - Ali Sayed, Postgraduate social sciences student

"We cannot be an African university, a worldclass university, when to think about Africa is to think about South Africa." – Pumla Gqola

Decolonisation is not unique to South Africa - Assoc Prof Pumla Gqola, Wits University

UCT for everybody - Olumide Ogunmodimu, PhD in engineering

Africa must be enlightened for Africans by Africans - Mbali Matandela, Postgrad student in the School of African & Gender Studies, Anthropology & Linguistics

Decolonise the mind - Dr Zethu Matebeni, Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA)

"What is taught is never neutral - not even in the natural sciences. We all have biases, which are also reflected in our research." – Lungisile Ntsebeza

A vision for a three-year undergrad degree in African studies - Professor Lungisile Ntsebeza, Centre for African Studies

Decolonisation essential for equality and justice - Alex Hotz, Postgrad student in the Faculty of Law

Linguistics: a study in decolonisation - Professor Rajend Mesthrie, Department of Linguistics

"The work on transformation that has taken place in various parts of UCT over the past 21 years has been instrumental in bringing about change, but at a very slow pace. The change in the discourse from transformation to decolonisation has marked a new and more radical process of change that must continue." – Shose Kessi

Knowledge must serve the interests of the majority - Dr Shose Kessi, Department of Psychology

Take cultural perspectives into account - Tyler Philips, Third-year English and psychology major

Curriculum change the starting point for decolonisation - Thato Pule, SRC Chair: Transformation and Social Responsiveness

Unbundling the colonial university - Assoc Prof Kathy Luckett, Faculty of Humanities' Education Development Unit

"It is not necessarily just about bringing black bodies onto white campuses. It is what those bodies bring in their heads to the academy; it shouldn't be about bodies and body counts." – Amina Mama

Decolonising knowledge 101 - Prof Amina Mama, University of California, Davis

Push transformation forward - Bame Modungwa, Master's in economic development

Are we under autocratic rule? - Ayodele Gilbert Ogunkoya, Master's in marine biology

Shedding the colonial curriculum structure - Assoc Prof Suellen Shay, Dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development

Curated by Abigail Calata, Helen Swingler and Yusuf Omar.

Read more stories from the May 2015 edition.