Decolonising the Curriculum: Indigenous Knowledge, Orality and Experiential Narratives in Social Sciences
Author : Dr. Deepali Aparajita Dungdung
Abstract :
Academic disciplines are historically constituted domains of inquiry shaped by epistemological assumptions that determine what counts as legitimate knowledge, who can produce it, and how it may be validated. These assumptions are institutionalised through disciplinary practices such as methodological conventions, canonical texts, and curricular frameworks. Modern university curricula—particularly in the social sciences—have largely emerged from Eurocentric intellectual traditions that privilege written archives, positivist epistemologies, and claims to universal objectivity. Such frameworks have historically marginalised Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), oral traditions, community memory, and embodied forms of knowledge.
This paper examines how decolonial and Indigenous methodologies can transform contemporary higher education by rethinking curricula, expanding legitimate sources of knowledge, and foregrounding oral narratives, memory, autobiographical accounts, and community histories as sites of knowledge production. Drawing on decolonial theory and Indigenous research methodologies, the paper argues that integrating Indigenous knowledge into academic curricula requires structural shifts in epistemology, pedagogy, and canon formation rather than symbolic or token inclusion. Using examples from the Sociology curricula of Ranchi University, the paper demonstrates how courses on tribal societies, oral traditions, and Adivasi knowledge systems reflect ongoing attempts to rework disciplinary frameworks. Comparative examples from Indigenous education initiatives in other parts of the world.
The paper tries to argue that decolonising the curriculum involves not only adding themes related to indigenous people but also transforming methodological hierarchies, recognising oral epistemologies, and creating dialogic spaces between academic and community knowledge systems. Such transformations challenge the dominance of colonial epistemologies while enabling more inclusive and contextually grounded forms of knowledge production.
Keywords :
Curriculum, Decolonial, Indigenous, Tribal Studies, Knowledge, Social science.
