Watch this video to hear Dr Natalie Kopytko, Dr Claudia Mvula Pollen and Dr Catherine Bates discuss where to start with diversifying reading lists.
Reflecting on resources
These questions are designed to help you begin thinking critically about your discipline, the research being undertaken within it, and the knowledge it produces. They serve as a guide—some may resonate more strongly with your area of focus than others. Rather than offering definitive answers, these prompts are intended as a starting point for an iterative process of reflection. As your module your own research evolves, you may find yourself returning to these questions with new insights and perspectives. You can download the questions as a document to add your thoughts as you use this toolkit.
Questions to consider
- What are the dominant voices, narratives and experiences in your areas of study?
- What voices and experiences might be excluded in this field? How can they be identified? How can the Library help identify them?
- Are authors describing their own culture, practices, society, language etc. in the material on your lists?
- How might knowledge be distorted in your field based on who is or isn’t accepted as an authority?
- What kinds of sources do you perceive to have the most academic authority and why? How could ‘new media’ (social media, blogs, tv, podcasts, cinema) widen the range of viewpoints represented?
- Are students encouraged to contribute to reading lists?
Choose one list and ask these questions of the individual works cited:
- Who is the author of the work? What do you know about their positionality? How does that positionality relate to the mainstream in their field?
- Is the author’s identity or experience relevant in this context? If so, how?
- What is the place of publication and geographic coverage of the work? Is the author describing their own culture, country, or milieu, or are they examining that of others?
- What is the language of the work? Is it a translation or in its original language, and how might this affect your reading of it?
- What material type is this work; is it Open Access? What are the barriers for authors publishing (or creators creating) in this way? What are the opportunities for students to engage with this material?
- Where did find this title to add to your reading list? Trade journal, bibliography, academic networks, conference, Library Featured Collections, suggested or cited by a student?