Humanness as Praxis: Colonialities of Being in Curriculum Theory

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Few concepts are as central to the projects of curriculum theory as the figure of the human. Taken for granted in most articulations of curriculum, the figure of the human has given the field its object of concern – curriculum is about the making of better humans. But what would it mean for curriculum theorizing, following Sylvia Wynter (with McKittrick, 2015), to abandon a view of humanness as a noun for a conception of being human as a praxis? Each of the papers in this panel will present a different approach to applying and understanding the ways that Sylvia Wynter’s work on humanness as praxis can unsettle the post-Enlightenment episteme of curriculum theory.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Critical Issues in Curriculum and Cultural Studies

Chair

• Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández, University of Toronto - Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Papers

• Fiction and the Intrahuman - Aparna Mishra Tarc

• No Humans Involved: Colonialities of Power in Early Childhood Education - Julie C. Garlen, Georgia Southern University

• Curriculum Scholars of Color "Rewriting Knowledge": The (Im)possibilities of Breaking Through and Moving Beyond in Curriculum Studies - Sabrina Nicole Ross-Griffin, Georgia Southern University

• Curricula Against the State: Sylvia Wynter, the Politics of Being Human, and the Future of Curriculum Studies - Nathan Snaza, University of Richmond

Discussants

• Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández, University of Toronto - Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

• Sandy Grande, Connecticut College