Decolonizing geography and environmental studies?

October 6-7, 2022 - University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Room 1628 Géopolis and online (via Zoom)

Abstract painting (on rawpixel - CC0)

Over the last two decades the decolonial turn has swept across academic disciplines, exposing the configurations of power that have survived the formal end of colonial rule. Decolonial perspectives call into question prevalent modes of producing scientific knowledge, critically addressing theoretical approaches, methodologies, fieldwork practices and citational politics. Yet, as calls to decolonizing the university have circulated widely, significant questions have been raised about the incorporation and watering down of this notion in institutional contexts.

The international conference Decolonizing Geography and Environmental Studies? will consider the implications of the decolonial turn for the fields of geography and environmental studies. Through keynote conservations, round tables, student-led events and the IGS North-South doctoral seminar, it will explore colonial legacies and decolonial projects within Swiss, European, and international networks of geography and environmental studies and the university at large.

The conference is organized by GRAAR (Group Reflecting and Acting Against Racism), an initiative of UNIL’s Institute of geography and sustainability, in collaboration with AEA (Association of Afro-descendent Students UNIL – EPFL), and IGS North-South. It is co-funded by UNIL’s Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment and IGS North-South.

This event will be preceded on October 5 by the pre-conference Decolonial and anti-racist feminist geographies, organized by the Feminist Geography Thematic Group of the Swiss Association of Geography (ASG). This will include a keynote by Prof. Parvati Raghuram (Open University), a roundtable featuring Swiss feminist scholars and a networking event.

Most events will be open to the public. The conference will be hybrid, but physical presence is warmly encouraged.

Registration for the conference (October 6-7) is free but mandatory. The deadline is September 26, 2022.

Registration for the pre-conference (October 5).

For info and registration for the IGS North-South doctoral seminar in political ecology please email susu.myat@unil.ch 

Inquiries about the conference: miriam.tola@unil.ch

Inquiries about the pre-conference: stefanie.boulila@hslu.ch or karine.duplan@unige.ch

October 6-7: Program and Speakers (v3)  (623 Ko)

October 5: Program and Speakers  (1893 Ko)