As members of the Oxford and Empire Network, we have been interested in new approaches to teaching and research that consider the relationship between Oxford and imperialism. When the project expanded into a TORCH network in 2020, this provided new opportunities for collaboration, discussion, and multidisciplinary engagement across the university community.

On Monday, 23 May, we will be welcoming Prof Patricia Daley and Dr Amber Murrey from the School of Geography and the Environment. They will share their experiences and approaches to collaboratively implementing what they call ‘disobedient pedagogies’ (Murrey 2019; Daley & Murrey 2022) in their innovative FHS option ‘Critical Development Geographies’. As reflected in its title, this paper critically considers the historical and political contexts of development geographies. From course design through to syllabus, Prof Daley and Dr Murrey have aimed to depart from the ‘standard structures’ for such a paper. Instead, they have sought to de-centre disciplinary narratives and, in doing so, more deeply integrate critical perspectives and approaches to geography and development alike. They take as their starting point calls for the eradication of development studies as a discipline of Western and racialising thought, alongside growing projects to decolonize development, particularly in African societies. The paper encourages students to reflect on and consider Oxford’s own relationship with international development and empire.

Please register in advance (with dietary requirements) for this seminar by emailing: empire.project@history.ox.ac.uk