Oxford to ‘decolonise’ computing degree and emphasise slavery links

Oxford has said it will “decolonise” computing degree courses because of alleged slavery links to machine learning.

The university’s computer science department has overhauled modules to show students “how global histories of domination and subjugation have impacted the structures of science they see and the assumptions they encounter”.

It says it is committed to “understanding what it means to decolonise the curriculum and examining preconceptions that have been taken for granted for decades, if not centuries”.

The faculty, one of the oldest computer sciences hubs in the UK, says there is “growing awareness” that “new technologies can have a detrimental effect on individuals, communities and entire societies”.

But the department, headed by Prof Leslie Ann Goldberg, has come under fire for becoming “colonised” itself by US radical critical race theories.

“We need to go beyond understanding these effects to realise that they are often rooted in a colonial past that even at its most benign, sought to impose Western standards and understandings on other countries, and at its worst enslaved and reduced local populations, creating divisions and hierarchies of value that are replicated in the vast datasets so often used in machine learning,” faculty chiefs said.

Urging campus chiefs to ‘go woke’

It comes after it emerged last week that the body advising universities on degree standards is now urging campus chiefs to “go woke” by decolonising most subject areas.

The Quality Assurance Agency’s new advice says that computing courses should address “how divisions and hierarchies of colonial value are replicated and reinforced” within the subject. while maths curriculums “should present a multicultural and decolonised view”.

The Oxford computer sciences department has announced that “being non-racist is insufficient” because the university “has benefitted from and perpetuated attitudes and practices rooted in deeply wrong biases and prejudices”.

It claims that as a result, “carrying out research that is truly representative requires an anti-racist position”, including decolonisation and “rejecting the conscious and unconscious biases of the past”.

The faculty’s new modules include one on computers in society and another in ethics and responsible innovation.

The move comes as British universities increasingly turn their focus on the ills of the British Empire from humanities courses towards maths, science and engineering degrees – despite critics saying it has no relevance to the curriculum.

The department added that “computer science itself has been characterised as a colonial system, exporting technology designed for particular cultural and social contexts into other areas of the globe, without regard to local needs or contexts”.

Therefore, it says “there is an urgent need to work on decolonising digital innovation, digital content, and digital data to explore how databases and images might support indigenous knowledge systems”.

‘America’s grievance industrial complex’

Toby Young, head of the Free Speech Union, told The Telegraph: “With the capture of the Oxford computer science department, the colonisation of Britain’s universities by America’s grievance industrial complex is complete.

“Henceforth, it doesn’t matter what subject you choose to study at university whether it’s English or computer science – you will be taught about critical race theory.”

Among the research projects established by Oxford’s department is an “ethical hackathon” model to help students embed fairness and responsibility mechanisms into the design of tools and systems.

A University of Oxford spokesman said: “All faculties regularly review and update their course curricula to reflect the latest developments in the subject, and recent initiatives have broadened the topics that we teach and research.

“Most science courses include content covering the ethical and social issues around their subjects. Such content is often formally required by accrediting bodies such as the engineering institutions.”