Diversifying and Decolonising the University

Chris Lloyd

This is a podcast from the University of Hertfordshire's 'Diversifying and Decolonising the University' group. Each episode will explore some element of diversification within higher education contexts, featuring interviews and conversations between staff and students within and beyond Hertfordshire.

  1. Aug 28

    Ep. 32: Women of Colour Academics in STEM (with Abimbola Abodunrin)

    Sara Downton talks to Abimbola Abodunrin about his research into the experiences of women of colour academics in STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering and Maths), as well as marginalised knowledges, and decolonial methodologies.  NOTES: Abimbola Abodunrin is a post-doctoral researcher in education with a strong grounding in the sociology of education and a growing track record in qualitative research, teaching, and scholarly engagements. His PhD thesis at the University of Glasgow explored the underrepresentation of women academics of colour in British STEM academia, as a way of contributing to wider efforts to decolonise the academy. Kolar, K., Ahmed, F. & Chan, L., (2015). Timeline Mapping in Qualitative Interviews: a Study of Resilience with Marginalised Groups. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(3), pp. 13 – 32.   Olmo-Extremera, M., Fernández-Terol, L., & Amber Montes, D. (2024). Visual tools for supporting interviews in qualitative research: new approaches. Qualitative Research Journal, 24(3), 283-298.  Bravington, A., & King, N. (2019). Putting graphic elicitation into practice: Tools and typologies for the use of participant-led diagrams in qualitative research interviews. Qualitative Research, 19(5), 506-523.  Baú, V. (2024). Viewing life as a timeline: Digital visual research to retrace people's journeys. Qualitative Research, 24(5), 1302-1311.  Ku, E. K. (2025). Timelines: visualizing time in narrative research. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 100215.  * Please leave us feedback about the show via this link. Visit our website for more resources and follow us on BlueSky! Email us with thoughts and feedback: ddtu@herts.ac.uk Produced by Chris Lloyd, Catarina Carvalho, and Sara Downton. Music by Rayen © Hear more via Spotify or Instagram. Edited by Chris Lloyd. This show is in part made possible by an Impact Accelerator Award from the University of Hertfordshire and the Economic and Social Research Council.

  2. Jul 28

    Ep. 31: Whose Knowledge? Education and International Development in Islamic West Africa (with Anneke Newman)

    In this episode, we listen to Siobhan Bygate talk to Anneke Newman about decolonising education and international development in Islamic West Africa.  EPISODE NOTES: Anneke Newman has received an interdisciplinary academic training including an BA in Human Sciences (Oxford), a Masters in Gender and Development (Institute of Development Studies), and a Masters in Comparative and Cross-Cultural Research Methods (University of Sussex) before earning her doctorate at the Department of Anthropology at Sussex in 2016. Before joining Ghent University as a FWO-funded senior postdoctoral fellow in 2022, she worked as a Teaching Fellow at Sussex and a FNRS-funded postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des Mondes Contemporains (LAMC) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Newman's current research is a decolonial analysis of knowledge production and policy-making related to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage.  Anneke Newman, Decolonising Education in Islamic West Africa: Secular Erasure, School Preference and Social Inequality* Please leave us feedback about the show via this link. Visit our website for more resources and follow us on BlueSky! Email us with thoughts and feedback: ddtu@herts.ac.uk Produced by Chris Lloyd, Catarina Carvalho, and Sara Downton. Music by Rayen © Hear more via Spotify or Instagram. Edited by Chris Lloyd. This show is in part made possible by an Impact Accelerator Award from the University of Hertfordshire and the Economic and Social Research Council.

    Ep. 31: Whose Knowledge? Education and International Development in Islamic West Africa (with Anneke Newman)
  3. Mar 11

    Ep. 29: Epistemic Disobedience (with Katie Heffron)

    In this episode, Sara Downton talks to Katie Heffron about her doctoral work on decolonising in higher education and the action of 'epistemic disobedience'. EPISODE NOTES: Katie Heffron is a part-time Postgraduate Researcher (PGR) at the University of York's Department for Education, investigating how university staff build their capability to contribute to decolonising knowledge efforts. Her research focuses on facilitating dialogue with staff to explore colonial legacies within institutional structures and how these shape everyday practices. Separate to her PhD, Katie works part-time as a Capacity and Policy Engagement Manager for York’s Policy Engine. Katie's webpage: Research: Confronting Coloniality * Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leave us feedback about the show via this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit our website for more resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Email us with thoughts and feedback: ddtu@herts.ac.uk Produced by Chris Lloyd, Catarina Carvalho, and Sara Downton. Music by Rayen © Hear more via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Edited by Allysa Versoza and Chris Lloyd. This show is in part made possible by an Impact Accelerator Award from the University of Hertfordshire and the Economic and Social Research Council.

    Ep. 29: Epistemic Disobedience (with Katie Heffron)
  4. 12/19/2025

    Ep. 27: New and Decolonial Approaches to Gender Nonconformity (with Kit Heyam, Jon Ward, Rebecca Jane Morgan and Eva Cheuk-Yin Li)

    In this episode, Chris Lloyd talks to Kit Heyam, Jonathan Ward, Rebecca Jane Morgan, and Eva Cheuk-Yin Li about the new open access book ⁠⁠New and Decolonial Approaches to Gender Nonconformity: Forging A Home For Ourselves (Bloomsbury, 2025). Kit and Jonathan have co-edited the volume, and Rebecca and Eva have chapters within it. We talked about decolonisation and anticolonialism, trans history, gender nonconformity across time and place, cis scholarship, and embodiment (among much else).  EPISODE NOTES:  Heyam, K. (2022.) Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender. Liu, W. & Li, E.C.Y. (2025). The geopolitics of queer archives: Contested Chineseness and queer Sinophone affiliations between Hong Kong and Taiwan. Sexualities, 28(3), 1118–1138.  Li, E.C.Y. (2023, April 4). Hong Kongers’ mourning for Elizabeth II: Colonial nostalgia and the (impossible) project of decolonisation. The Sociological Review Magazine.  Morgan, R.J. (2023). Gender Heretics: Evangelicals, Feminists, adn the Alliance Against Trans Liberation.Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leave us feedback about the show via this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit our website for more resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Email us with thoughts and feedback: ddtu@herts.ac.uk Produced by Chris Lloyd, Catarina Carvalho, and Sara Downton. Music by Rayen © Hear more via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Edited by Allysa Versoza and Chris Lloyd.

    Ep. 27: New and Decolonial Approaches to Gender Nonconformity (with Kit Heyam, Jon Ward, Rebecca Jane Morgan and Eva Cheuk-Yin Li)
  5. 11/25/2025

    Ep. 26: Mónica Moreno Figueroa

    In this episode ⁠Pilar Villanueva-Martínez speaks to Mónica Moreno Figueroa about her work on decolonisation, antiracism, and much else. Pilar is a Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Hertfordshire.   EPISODE NOTES:  Mónica G. Moreno Figueroa is a Black-mestiza, Mexican-British, woman, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. She is also a Fellow in Social Sciences at Downing College, Cambridge. Her research focusses on the intersectional lived experience of ‘race’ and racism in Mexico and Latin America; antiracism and academic-based impact; feminist theory, intersectionality and racism. She is an expert in qualitative research methods, visual methodologies and thrives in interdisciplinary collaborations. She is now learning all about design thinking for social transformation. Mónica is currently leading the development of the Global Racisms Institute for Social Transformation (GRIST), established with seed funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Please ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leave us feedback about the show via this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for more resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Email us with thoughts and feedback: ddtu@herts.ac.uk Produced by Chris Lloyd, Catarina Carvalho, and Sara Downton. Music by Rayen © Hear more via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Edited by Allysa Versoza. Additional editing by Chris Lloyd.

    Ep. 26: Mónica Moreno Figueroa

About

This is a podcast from the University of Hertfordshire's 'Diversifying and Decolonising the University' group. Each episode will explore some element of diversification within higher education contexts, featuring interviews and conversations between staff and students within and beyond Hertfordshire.