PREP’s last seminar of its year-long series on Turning Decolonization Rhetoric into Action centered around a conversation between students and Dr. Youssef Mahmoud, Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute. Students posed thoughtful questions on the meanings and impacts of colonization, while Dr. Mahmoud candidly shared his experiences on the concept of decolonization and its practice in the peacebuilding field.

Dr. Mahmoud began by asking students what colonization meant to them personally, exploring its effects on land, values, institutions, language, ideas, education, history and more in their eyes. This open dialogue laid the foundation to then unpack the significance of decolonization and the relationships needing repair in that process. Students conveyed how profoundly they feel colonization has shaped views on knowledge, mindsets, social systems and everyday lived experiences.

Guiding the discussion masterfully, Dr. Mahmoud built on these perspectives to explain his vision for decolonization on epistemological, structural, relational and personal planes. He walked through the stages of knowing, being, doing, and becoming, clarifying how to shift from universality to pluriversality. Students hung on Dr. Mahmoud's connections between these conceptual levels and real-world impacts. The conversation reached impressive depth while illuminating the continued deconstruction of damage inflicted by colonization.

The evening provided impactful final notes to the Fall semester. Both students and Dr. Mahmoud gained insight from the sincere experience sharing between them during this exchange. The conversation was then followed by a reception, allowing students to keep exchanging with Dr. Mahmoud and explore career perspectives in the peacebuilding field. Dr. Mahmoud’s bio is available here.