The Sikh Studies Unit, Teaching Religion Unit, and Transformative Scholarship and Pedagogy Unit invite scholars, educators, activists, and community leaders to submit papers for a possible co-sponsored panel on "Creative Approaches to Teaching Sikhi through a Decolonial Frame." This panel aims to explore innovative and transformative methods for teaching Sikh history, philosophy, and practices by challenging colonial narratives and embracing decolonial perspectives. We seek contributions that highlight creative pedagogical strategies, curriculum development, and community engagement that centre Sikh voices and experiences, fostering a more inclusive and accurate understanding of Sikhi. We welcome papers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes and topics: a) Decolonising Sikh History and Narratives, b) Innovative Pedagogical Strategies, c) Curriculum Development, d) Community Engagement and Empowerment.
This paper presents a creative and interdisciplinary approach to teaching Gurbānī Sangīt (the music of Sikh scriptural hymns) at a North American college as part of efforts to decolonize Liberal Arts education. Grounded in the decolonial notion of ‘listening as a way of knowing’ (Feld 2024; Becker 2004), the courses emphasize practical engagement with the pluriversal vision enshrined in the songs transmitted in Sikh Scripture and Gurbānī oral literature, as an ecology of knowledges (Santos 2014) inclusive of Bhakti and Sufi voices. This experiential approach provides an avenue to reflect on the role that kīrtan, or the singing of devotional poetry, had - and still has - in transmitting spiritual knowledges from the Global South. Additionally, by reviving the pre-colonial pedagogy, Gurbānī Sangīt classes create opportunities to explore Sikh history, philosophy, and practices while learning firsthand the rāga and tāla system, along with traditional instruments to perform kīrtan’s heritage compositions.
Decolonizing pedagogy is a crucial endeavor for the discipline of religious studies to undertake to better understand and explore religious traditions that have long been understood through a colonial lens, such as Sikhi. Fortunately, Sikh scholars continue to provide indigenous perspectives on the dynamic development of Sikhi as a religious, cultural, and politically sovereign empire; yet a successful course focused on decolonizing pedagogy must do more than emphasize scholarship within a tradition. This paper focuses on the successful implementation of a recently developed decolonizing teaching method, Interfaith Community-Advised Pedagogy (ICAP), in which courses are co-taught between religious studies faculty and members of minority religious traditions to gain first-hand knowledge about how religions are lived. After we (a religious studies professor and Sikh activist) collaborated on the ICAP framework, our class was able to engage with indigenous scholarship, build rapport with a Sikh community, and effectively center Sikh sovereignty with students.
This presentation explores how engaged learning and experiential pedagogies of seva (selfless service), simran (meditative reflection and contemplation), sakhi (storytelling), shabd (song/word) and sangat (community engagement) can function as decolonial practices to transform the self in relation to community, past, present, and future. Through student engagement in the course Sikhism: Sage Warrior and collaborations with grassroots initiatives led by activists, artists, and musicians, I will examine the ways in which the afore mentioned pedagogical approaches can provide a transformative framework for student learning and collective well-being.