Examining Your (De)Colonial Self with Tanya Mackenzie
From the Short Course Series
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
Examining your (de)colonial self is designed to delve into our own personal journeys in decoloniality. Decoloniality at its heart is about developing a perspective that allows us to see ourselves more clearly in relation to ourselves and to others, including non-humans.
In this course, we examine our relationships with the knowledge and power hierarchies we grew up in and belong to, whether on the side of the oppressed or the oppressors. We invite each participant to enter the course with a personal dilemma or question to explore together within a larger framework. As we question the systematic global dynamics that exist, we will create a safe BUT brave and uncomfortable space to have conversations. We will embrace our own personal lived experiences and together embrace the lived experience of each other.
Tanya grew up in Zimbabwe and always lived with the need to confront the realities of living in highly racialized communities. Decoloniality has been a transformative process in her life and she has carefully crafted this six week journey for you to safely examine your own (de)colonial self.
WHEN & WHERE WILL YOU LEARN?
The course sessions will be online on Zoom or Google Meet. Contact us to commission a date and timeline.
Recommended age group of cohort: Between 16 and 65 years of age
- No. of sessions: 06
- Session duration: 60 minutes
- Course capacity: 10–15
- Time commitment (session hours): 7 hours (min)
HOW WILL YOU LEARN?
This course is for you if you want a safe place to have difficult conversations about racism, racial inequalities, privilege, white guilt complex, black consciousness, and more.
Week one: Our personal positionality in coloniality — Am I because we are?
Week two: The geopolitics of knowledge — Am I where I think?
Week three: Zones of being — Who is the other?
Week four: Hierarchies we belong to — Are you oppressed or are you an oppressor?
Week five: Uncomfortable conversations — How can we sit with the discomfort?
Week six: Mapping our perspective and directions — Where do we go from here?
Prior Requirements: Willingness to learn and expand your perspective
WHO WILL YOU LEARN WITH?
Tanya Mackenzie grew up in Zimbabwe and always lived with the need to confront the realities of living in highly racialized communities. A physiotherapist and doctoral graduate she ended up in clinical practice, research, academia, and education. At the same time, she has been a businesswoman with her own practice, owned a plant nursery, worked as a farmer for 14 years, and worked in hospitality and as a dressmaker. But she was unable to ignore her dissatisfaction with the systems to which she belonged. Somehow every ideology she learned about did not quite help her to make sense of her lived experiences. Constant clashes between the way the world is and how she wants to be in it drew her to study anthropology. It was during these studies that she discovered the theory and practice of decoloniality. She felt she had finally found a way of thinking and being that could unravel her dilemmas. She had an awakening.
CRITERIA FOR CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
To receive the certificate of completion, you need to attend 75% of the sessions.
OUR SLIDING SCALE
We offer a sliding scale of contributions as we are open to members from both the Global South and the Global North, or somewhere in transition. While we ask you to look inward, please don’t stress about it. Pay what feels right. We offer three levels of pricing (per person):
- $99 for Global North and some Global South
- $59 for Global South and some Global North
- FREE for those who need it to be free
Let’s get started. Contact us to commission a date and timeline.
