Living and Thinking Under Catastrophe: Combative Decoloniality as Counter-Catastrophic Thinking, Creation, and Action

Featuring: Dr. Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Professor of Philosophy, University of Connecticut

Moderated by: Dr. Arshad I. Ali, GW Associate Professor of Educational Research
and Dr. Ebtissam Oraby, GW Teaching Assistant Professor of Arabic and GSEHD Alumna (Ed.D., Curriculum and Instruction)

In a context of where the concept of decoloniality spreads through various regions of the modern/colonial and liberal academic context, it is important to revisit the roots of modern/colonial catastrophe and to reaffirm the combative dimension of decoloniality. With references to decolonial struggle in Algeria, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and Palestine, Dr. Maldonato-Torres will propose combative decoloniality as the ongoing effort to engage in counter-catastrophic modalities of being, thinking, creating, and acting.

This lecture is part of the 2022-23 GW University Seminar "And the Earth Was Laid Out for All Living Beings: Muslim Epistemologies, Science, and Non-Western Ways of Knowing."

For more information, please contact the Seminar Co-Conveners Arshad Ali (arshadali@gwu.edu) and Ebtissam Oraby (eoraby@gwu.edu).