Location: Main Building, University of Helsinki, Fabinaninkatu 33
08:30–09:30 Registration & Morning Coffee
09:30–10:00: Opening Remarks “Decolonising Higher Education in Europe: Why Now?”
University of Helsinki representative: TBA
Conference Organising Committee: Diversity Council and Europe: Anna-Leena Riitaoja (UH, Chair of the Una Europa Diversity Council, Ishimwe Marie-Aimée Ntawukulityayo (KU Leuven, member of the Diversity Council and Joel Hänninen (UH, Una Europa Europe and the World)
Representative of DIVSOL: Professor Kaius Sinnemäki
Yuliya Brin, Conference Secretary
10:00–11:00: Keynote speech
Location: Small Festive Hall
Chair: Valeria Quintana Solis
Decolonising the University: What can Latin America teach us?
Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela
11:00–11:20: Coffee Break
Location: Aula Sirén, 4th floor (Next to the Small Festive Hall)
11:20–13:00 MORNING PARALLEL SESSIONS
Panel A1 Decolonising Knowledge Production and Epistemic Justice
Location: Small Festive Hall
Chair: Carolina Guzman Valenzuela
Global Linguistic Justice and Academia
Eoghan Flood (Ó Tuile), KU Leuven
What Can Global University Rankings Tell Us? The State of Structural Epistemicide Through the Lens of Africa's Top Universities
Kalina Poślednik, Jagiellonian University
The Inclusivity Trap: How Comparative Politics Incorporates the Global South Without Hearing It Szymon Słomka, Jagiellonian University
Panel A2 Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Decolonial Teaching
Location: F3010
Chair: TBA
Decolonising the language curriculum: Multilingualism as epistemological reorientation
Lotta Aunio, University of Helsinki, Liban Ali Hersi, University of Helsinki, Mikko Autere, University of Helsinki, Friederike Lüpke, University of Helsinki, Hany Saber Mansour, University of Helsinki and Janne Seppänen, University of Helsinki
A curriculum for decolonial teaching in social work
Kristina Gustafsson, University of Helsinki & Emma Soderman, Linnaeus University & Linnéa Åberg, University West, Sweden
Reconfiguring colonial history education: Concept-based teaching as a curricular intervention in teacher education
Willemijn Wuister, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences
Panel A3 Workshop: From principles to practice: How to turn ethical guidelines into action?
Location: U3029
Chair: TBA
Meeri Tiensuu, Finnish University Partnership for International Development
Maria Brockhaus, University of Helsinki
Panel A4 Panel discussion: Whose Knowledge Counts? An Open Discussion on What Decolonisation Means and For Whom: Perspectives from international education, identity, and educational practice
Location: U3040
Chair: Minji Jeon, University of Helsinki
Afsheen Ahmed, University of Helsinki
Fasih Raza, Texas State University (online)
Daniel Talv, University of Helsinki
13:00–14:20 Lunch
14.20-16.00 AFTERNOON PARALLEL SESSIONS
Panel B1 Indigenous Futures, Colonial Histories, and Educational Justice
Panel B1 Indigenous Futures, Colonial Histories, and Educational Justice
Location: F3010
Chair: TBA
Reclaiming Roots: Valorising Indigenous Knowledge Systems for the Decolonisation of Uganda’s Education
Namyalo Saudah, Makerere University (online)
Mother-Tongue Biblical Interpretation as Decolonial Education, Yu-Shan Theological College and Seminary and Indigenous Knowledge in Taiwan
Risaw Walis, Yu-Shan Theological College and Seminary, Taiwan.
Panel B2 Decolonising Area Studies and Global Disciplines
Location: F3004
Chair: TBA
Beyond ‘Russian Studies’: Anglosaxon Knowledge Production and Post-Soviet Epistemic Frames
Dovile SAGATIENE, Mykolas Romeris University
Third World Approaches to International Law: From Learning to Action
Julio Cesar Farias de Oliveira Junior, University of Brasília
Panel B3 Workshop: Co-creating Decolonial Practices in Higher Education: A Community of Philosophical Inquiry Workshop
Location: F3006
Chair: TBA
Saiki Lucy Cheah, University of Helsinki
Maija Kalm-Akubardia, University of Helsinki
Kris Clarke, University of Helsinki
Panel B4 Roundtable: Decolonising Islamic Studies and/in Higher Education
Location: U3029
Moderator: Riina Sinisalo, University of Helsinki
Saila Kujanpää, University of Helsinki
Rahma Hersi, University of Eastern Finland
Mikko Autere, University of Helsinki
Janne Seppänen, University of Helsinki
Panel B5: Roundtable: Affirming a Decolonial Structure of Awareness: Reimagining Higher Education in Canada and Finland
Location: U3040
Chair: Dr. Cherisse Francis, St. Mary´s University
Amílcar Sanatan, University of Helsinki
Rianthe Angela, University of Helsinki
Cristina Raquel Gomez Saari, University of Helsinki
Tka Pinnock, York University
Collin Xia, York University
16:00–17:00 Coffee break/Free time
Location: Aula Sirén, 4th floor
17:00–17:45 Networking Reception
Location: Tiedekulma/Science Corner
17:45-19:00 Una.Lecture Challenges in Decolonising Higher Education: Learnings from Indigenous, European and Global Contexts
Moderator: Yacine Kalke, Social Responsibility Specialist, University of Helsinki
Ishimwe Marie-Aimée Ntawukulityayo, Policy Advisor on Equity | Diversity & Inclusion in Higher Education, KU Leuven
Pigga Keskitalo, Professor | Faculty of Education, Lapin yliopisto/University of Lapland
Valeria Quintana Solis, Jagellonian university in Krakow, Una Europa Student Board member
09:00–10:00 Keynote speech
Location: Small Festive Hall
What Does Decolonisation Mean for Higher Education? Sámi Perspectives from the Nordic Countries
Pigga Keskitalo
Chair: Hanna Guttorm
10:00–10:20 Coffee Break
Location: Aula Sirén, 4th floor
10:20–12:00 MORNING PARALLEL SESSIONS
Panel C1 Coloniality and Institutional Transformation in Higher Education
Location: F3010
Chair: Pablo Fuentenebro Alonso
Speaking out against the genocide: A call to decolonize academic freedom
Pablo Fuentenebro Alonso, University of Helsinki
Decolonizing KU Leuven’s Global Partnerships: A Critical Assessment of the VLIR-UOS IUC Model…
Piet Wostyn, KU Leuven
From Under the Rubble: Decolonizing Mentorship and Institutional Identity in Gaza
Montaser AlHalabi, University of Helsinki & Dr. Louis Cristillo (online) and Kate Copeland, the founders of MESBAH (online)
Panel C2 Internationalisation, Partnerships, and Mobility
Location: U4072
Chair: TBA
Unveiling and understanding coloniality in the temporalities of North-South academic partnerships
Anaïs Georges, University of Helsinki
Internationalisation without Decolonising? Mobility and Knowledge Flows in Universities in Europe
Pranjali Kirloskar, GBSB Global Business School (online)
The “Other” within “Us”: decolonising the European Studies classroom from a diasporic perspective
Naisene Elaouizeb, KU Leuven
Panel C3 Race, Inclusion, and Hidden Structures of Exclusion
Location: Small Festive Hall
Chair: TBA
White Normativity of Literary Studies Education at Finnish Universities
Hanna-Leena Määttä, University of Jyväskylä & Iida Pöllänen, Tampere University
Who Gets to Exist? Ontological Recognition and the Hidden Architecture of Exclusion in Higher Education
Pratishtha Mishra, KU Leuven (online)
Evidence-based empowerment: ‘Building Bridges’ as a decolonial mentoring model…
Felicia Boma Lazaridou, Freie Universität Berlin
Colonial education or education on colonialism? A critical case study of Belgian higher education
Phoenix Brown-Rigg, KU Leuven
William Ahlstedt, KU Leuven
Panel C4 Roundtable: Decolonising Islamic Studies and/in Higher Education
Roundtable: Creating space for Indigenous knowledge in Academia
Location: U4080
Chair: TBA
Reconfiguring epistemic plurality through Indigenous Studies in Helsinki
Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen, University of Helsinki
Indigenous students/scholars/institutions, Indigenous knowledge and Becoming Academic/Academia
Hanna Ellen Guttorm, University of Helsinki, Senior researcher
Relational Pedagogies in an AI Mediated Academy
Outi Kaarina Laiti, University of Helsinki
Fostering pluriversality in Higher Education in Ecuador
Tuija Veintie, University of Helsinki
How has Universidad Nacional de Colombia’s Amazon campus sought to integrate Indigenous knowledge and methodologies into university teaching
Sini Korja, University of Helsinki
Mātauranga Māori and science
Carl Mika, University of Canterbury
12:00–13:00 Lunch
13:00–14:40 AFTERNOON PARALLEL SESSIONS
Panel D1 Panel discussion: Decolonising Doctoral Education: The Case of Arts and Humanities PhD's
Location: F3005
Moderators: Pascal Kapagama, Université de Kinshasa & Ortwin de Graef, KU Leuven, joint coordinators of the Erasmus+ CBHE project SEECR-Congo (
Strengthening the Education Ecosystem for Early Career Researchers in DR Congo
Mayke Kaag, Leiden University & Grégoire Ngalamulume, Université Catholique du Congo
Practice-Based Research as Epistemic Transformation
Daniel Cattier, LUCA School of Arts & Jean Kamba, Independent artist-researcher, Kinshasa
Global Funding for Doctoral Research: African & European Perspectives
José Mangalu, Université de Kinshasa & Laurens Rademakers, KU Leuven
Mobilising multilingualism in academia as a decolonial act
Felix Ameka, Leiden University & Accra College of Education, Ghana, Nancy C. Kula, Leiden University & Maria Carmen Parafita Couto, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Panel D2 Language, Translation, and Epistemic Power
Location: F3017
Chair: TBA
Is the Latin script superior? A decolonial critique of terminology in the Turkish alphabet reform
Hilal Oytun Altun, Jagiellonian University (online)
Beyond Chomsky and Saussure: Reclaiming and Repositioning Arabic Semantics in Modern University
Husna Hameed, Islamabad
Confronting North-South Asymmetries in the Digital Age. The Ethics of Knowledge Production in Arabic Studies Projects
Johannes Stephan, Freie Universität Berlin
Joudy Sido Bozan, Freie Universität Berlin
Beyond Western Epistemes: Tracing Higher Education from the Ancient Buddhist University of Muara Jambi
Nainunis Aulia Izza, Leiden University
Panel D3 Workshop: The body as memory: Stories and ancestral knowledge as academic knowing
Location: U4072
Chair: TBA
Bayan Arouri - Doctoral Researcher in Peace and Conflict Studies at Tampere University
Zakia Essanhaji - Assistant professor at the Department of Organization Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Stella Saliari - Feminist researcher and Social Justice Facilitator
Panel D4 Workshop: Moving Beyond ‘Western’: Rethinking the Role of Language in Decolonial Research (by masters’ students)
Location: U4080
Linda Katariina Krisp-Weirich, University of Helsinki
Mariam Hounain, University of Helsinki
Panel D5: Beyond Colors: Student's Perspectives on Racism and Inclusive Futures in Finnish Higher Education (by masters’ students)
Location: Small Festive Hall
Jessica Landum, University of Helsinki '
Samuel Chukwumah, University of Helsinki
Tommi Mäki, University of Helsinki
Owusu Banahene, University of Jyväskylä
14:40–15:00 Coffee Break
Location: Aula Sirén, 4th floor
15:00–16:00 Closing Plenary
Location: Small Festive Hall
16:15-17:30 University of Helsinki Reception
Location: Main Building Christina Hall