Decolonizing the curriculum is a way of questioning and broadening academic practices and pedagogies to include and respect all cultures and belief systems, not just the cultures and belief systems of countries that participated and participate in modern colonialism, or the process of gaining political and economic control of a region after occupying it with settlers.
Events in 2020 revealed the systemic racial and social disparities that affect our most vulnerable populations, from the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement to the risks essential workers face every day during the pandemic.
In Decolonizing Methodologies (2021), Smith describes the effects of imperialism and colonization on Indigenous people. These oppressive practices have shaped historical research on Indigenous people in ways that are misaligned with Indigenous beliefs, values, and practices.