Decolonising Academic Literacies: Rethinking the Foundations and Practices of Academic Research and Writing

Sara Ewing was trained in teaching through the Washington Literacy Council and the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges from 2000-2002. She has a background in community-based organizations, with an emphasis on access to education for marginalized and stigmatized populations. Sara has taught in the USA, Mexico and the UK, and has spent years travelling through Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. These experiences have helped inform and motivate her academic interests in social, cultural and political issues, such as translation policy, immigration policy, citizenship testing and criminal justice policy reform.

Sara has a BA in Spanish and Political Science from Western Washington University, where she studied comparative politics, Spanish linguistics, feminism in 13th-16th century Spanish literature and identity in contemporary Mexican literature. She also has an MA in Applied Linguistics: Sociocultural Approaches from Goldsmiths. Her research used discourse and narrative analysis to focus on the interplay between language, politics, society and the individual, particularly in creating and maintaining social values, structures and institutions. Sara subsequently earned a Master of Research in Public Policy from Queen Mary, combining intensive training in qualitative and quantitative research methods with theories of the policy-making process. Her research focused on ideological and institutional influences on the articulation, formation and implementation of public policy.

Sara currently works as a Lecturer in Academic Literacies in the Centre for Academic Language and Literacies at Goldsmiths, teaching critical reading, writing and research methods across the university. She is currently focused on facilitating Decolonizing Academic Practices workshops and integrating decolonizing theories and praxis with discipline-specific academic skills provision.