Institute for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies

The Institute for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies is a multilingual forum - internationalist in spirit, interdisciplinary in method - for the comparative treatment of ideas, issues and problems related to the study of the colonial past and to the cultures of the contemporary postcolonial world.

Our work plays a key role in expanding each of these dynamic and rapidly developing research fields. We are a truly interdisciplinary initiative engaged in constructive dialogue between postcolonial approaches that challenge existing cultural and geo-political boundaries. Our central objectives are to re-assess colonial histories in all their complexity and diversity, and to gauge their continuing impact upon our globalised world.

We have a reputation for research excellence, with our members’ outputs consistently being published in the main journals and with leading academic presses worldwide. We also provide a vibrant research environment for research students and visiting scholars, helping them develop their projects and integrating them into our community.

At the same time, our mission commitment is t the general public as well the international academic community, and we seek to engage both through our projects and events.

We welcome applications from prospective research students interested in colonial and postcolonial studies. To find out more, visit the staff profiles of our members.

Projects

• Arctic Encounters
• Postcolonial Europe Network
• From Subjects to Citizens
• PIN: Postcolonial Intellectuals and their European Publics
  Financed by the NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research), this new three-year pan-European network aims to rethink the idea of Europe from a postcolonial perspective; to chart European transformations through the interventions of some of the continent's most prominent intellectuals, including artists and activists; and to provide new understandings of European citizenship, integration and emancipation from different subject positions. Partners in the network include universities and non-academic organisations in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal, as well as the UK. The main Leeds contacts are Professor Graham Huggan, Professor John McLeod and Professor Max Silverman
• Guest Lecture with Jennifer Wenzel (Columbia University): 'Reading for the Planet: Environmental Crisis and World Literature'
• Masterclass with Jennifer Wenzel (Columbia University): ‘How to Read for Oil’
• After Empire? The Contested History of Decolonisation, Migration and Race in Modern Britain Gary Younge (The Guardian), Professor  Elleke Boehmer (Oxford) and Professor Bill Schwarz (QMUL)

Events

We have hosted a wide range of events ranging from our Annual International Lectures to conferences to community days in conjunction with local schools and museums. Past speakers have included Prof. Ato Quayson, Prof. Elleke Boehmer, Prof. Helen Tiffin, Prof. Vijay Mishra, Professor Catherine Hall and Professor Dane Kennedy.  

Recent past events include:

Hauntings of Empire: the Continuing Memory of Italian Expansionism (Thursday 5 December 2019, 17:00 – 18:30)

Annual Lecture - ICPS and Centre for World Literatures (Thursday 17 October 2019, 17:15 – 18:30)

New Voices in Postcolonial Studies’ symposium with keynote lectures by Dr Amy Rushton and Professor John McLeod, curated parallel panel sessions of 20 minute papers with questions, and a network discussion workshop.

After Empire? The Contested Histories of Decolonisation, Migration and Race in Modern Britain (December 2018)

Reading for the Planet: Environmental Crisis and World Literature (November 2018)

Memory and Performance in African-Atlantic Futures (2018)

Animals and Borders (2017)

Affiliated networks 

Centre for World Literatures Network

Postcolonial Studies Association (PSA)

Postcolonial Studies Initiative (PCI)

People

Academic Staff

Postgraduate researchers

Contact

For further information about the Institute for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, please email Professor Graham Huggan.