Thinking Expensively Seminar Series (TESS) talks

TESS will serve as a platform to make space for, showcase, and elevate emerging Black scholars and scholarship in the UK. The seminar series will showcase the research and thinking of OU scholars and those external to the OU.  

Thinking expansively offers ways of thinking beyond the canon that starts from elsewhere/margins in a way that unsettles and reconfigures knowledge. Thinking Expansively redefines how we approach knowledge, pushing us to imagine and realise a more equitable and inhabitable world. It extends beyond adopting alternative or inclusive perspectives. Expansive thinking demands transforming oppressive and unequal structures into more equitable and sustainable systems.

The series aims to showcase Black scholarship that makes theoretical contributions and offers different starting points for thinking through inequalities and global challenges in ways that align with the politics of social justice.

Whiteness as a spectre in space? The case of Post-Apartheid Cape Town - A TESS talk

South Africa continues to be a country where racial segregation is more often the rule than the exception, with Cape Town ranking among its most racially segregated cities. The city is also frequently associated with Whiteness. Focusing on the context of Post-Apartheid Cape Town, this talk draws on Derrida’s concept of the spectre to explore Whiteness as both a ghostly presence and a spectrum.

Black Studies in Babylon: Practice, Politics and Pedagogy - A TESS Talk

Dr Rita Gayle (University of Birmingham) explores her research on millennial Black British women’s creative collectives (2013–2020), using Stuart Hall’s conjunctural analysis to examine their legacy. She also reflects on Black Studies in Britain and how knowledge about African and Caribbean heritage communities is produced and shared.

Afrocentric pedagogical leadership in action - Towards culturally empowered learning (A TESS Talk)

This session explores the limitations of conventional learning-centred leadership models and introduces a transformative Afrocentric approach rooted in African cultural values and epistemologies. Drawing on emerging research, it presents five foundational principles: culturally grounded pedagogy, Ubuntu-inspired inclusivity, liberatory learning spaces, decolonial data praxis, and relational empowerment.

GCSJ seminar series: Leveraging SKEEP for equitable responses to addressing societal challenges

In this presentation Margaret Ebubedik, Research Fellow in Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS), will draw on her body of work to share insights into her Stakeholder Knowledge Exchange, Engagement, and Partnerships (SKEEP) approach, which she has applied across diverse humanitarian, peacebuilding, and development contexts.

"Surviving Storms" - A talk with Dr Adom Philogene Heron (A TESS Talk)

Part of the Thinking Expansively Seminar Series (TESS), this talk welcomes Dr Adom Philogene Heron (Lecturer in Visual Anthropology at the University of Bristol)

'I do not sleep to dream, but dream to change the world': Black Dreaming in ‘the Wake’; Reflections on Futures Past – A TESS Talk

This event is part of the Thinking Expansively Seminar Series (TESS) and will explore Blackness, futurity, and geographies, drawing on Christina Sharpe's concept of "the wake." It examines how dreams and joy within Blackness inform new visions of the future, using Caribbean literature and film to reimagine Black futures. Through works like Erna Brodber's One Bubby Susan and Jaz Morrison’s films, the talk challenges traditional ideas of time and Black experience.

An Integrated System for Refugee Students: Access and Success in Higher Education - A TESS Talk

This event is part of the Thinking Expansively Seminar Series (TESS) and examines how digital education can empower refugee learners by addressing the unique challenges they face in accessing and succeeding in higher education. It explores the development of an integrated framework that provides tailored, multi-tiered support systems in host countries, moving beyond generic approaches to meet the specific needs of refugee students.

A question of reflexivity: experiences of African researchers - Thinking Expansively Seminar Series (TESS)

Dr Omolola Olarinde in her talk invites researchers, particularly those less familiar with reflexivity, to explore how employing reflexivity can enrich their research.