Speaker: Melz Owusu, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge
Discussants: Dr Isabelle Higgins (Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge), Dr Zuleika Sheik (Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University), Prof Stefano Harley (Institute of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, University of British Columbia) and Jonathan Skerrett (Polity Press).
Join us for an inspiring conversation and reflection between Melz Owusu (Department of Sociology and Free Black Uni) and Dr Isabelle Higgins (Department of Sociology) about the creative and liberatory potential described in Undisciplined: Reclaiming the Right to Imagine. Further comments will be offered by respondents Zuleika Sheik, Stefano Harley and Jonathan Skerrett.
About the book:
Undisciplined is an odyssey into possibility. Challenging us to break free from limiting strictures and structures, it encourages readers to envision just futures and reflect on the inner transformation required to become the custodians of those worlds.
In a profound and heartfelt offering, Melz Owusu delves into the stifling impact of the education system on imagination. They probe alternative, deeply spiritual connections to knowledge, and the pursuit of new ways of being as acts of remembrance of a common past.
Seamlessly transitioning between intellectual discourse, personal reflections, and spiritual contemplations, Melz navigates the ‘undisciplining’ of mind and spirit, guiding readers towards the healing and liberatory potential of the heart and the imagination.
Undisciplined is not a prescriptive manual but an invitation. Freedom takes many forms, and this book is intended as one route of exploration: a mind-opening and perspective-shifting appraisal of how we might imagine a more just and liberated world, and the path to accessing its beauty.
About the author:
Melz Owusu is an author, holistic life coach, and spiritual teacher. Melz recently completed their doctoral studies here at the University of Cambridge (St. Catharine’s College) for which they wrote a thesis exploring the ways in which knowledge can be cultivated that supersede our physical or scientific understanding. Essentially locating the spiritual as a valid and valuable source of knowledge cultivation and production utilising a range of theories such as Ancient Chinese Taoism, Ancient Indian Tantra, Quantum Physics, Jungian Psychology, Modal Knowledge (philosophy), Post-Structuralism, Queer Theory, and Black Feminist Thought.
Melz is also a former activist who has worked in a number of spaces such as Black Lives Matter UK, decolonising education, and trans visibility. They are a multifaceted artist and academic, their work explores the radical Black imagination and building transformative worlds both within and outside of themselves. Melz endeavours to take this radical, queer, decolonial, Black feminist analysis forward in all aspects of their life and work.
Room accessibility:
The seminar room is accessed via two short flights of steps and a lift. Please contact enquiries@sociology.cam.ac.uk ahead of seminars to arrange access.
Hybrid option:
You can also join this event online via Microsoft Teams Webinar (Teams account required).
