JONATHAN EVERSHED

Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Politics and Government
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK

Email: jonathan.evershed@ucc.ie

BIO

JONATHAN EVERSHED is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Government and Politics at University College Cork, and a Fellow of the Centre on Constitutional Change at the University of Edinburgh, where his work as part of the ESRC-funded project, ‘Between Two Unions: The constitutional future of the islands after Brexit’ focuses on the political implications of Brexit for the island of Ireland. A political anthropologist with a research interest in violence, conflict and conflict transformation in Northern Ireland, Jonathan’s work explores the politics of memory and commemoration, postcolonialism, and the politics of identity in Britain and Ireland. Jonathan’s publications include his monograph, Ghosts of the Somme: Commemoration and Culture War in Northern Ireland (University of Notre Dame Press, 2018) and “Between the Devil and the DUP: The Democratic Unionist Party and the Politics of Brexit” (co-authored with Mary C. Murphy).


PERSONAL STATEMENT

I was drawn to DISCs because I passionately believe that Higher Education should be force for progressive social change, and that the University classroom is a place in which entrenched patterns of power and discrimination can and should be interrogated. I have been inspired by movements such as Rhodes Must Fall to think about the decolonisation of education. The aims, histories and politics of these movements are highly relevant to my research, which focuses on violent conflict and its roots in the history and legacies of colonialism (particularly in Northern Ireland, but also globally); memory and the politics of decoloniality; and the post-colonial melancholia at the heart of the Brexit process. I would be keen to examine further how these research interests might be most actively and engagingly translated into my practice as both a teacher and an advocate of social justice.

As a DISCs Project Advocate, I am keen to explore and experiment with what a decolonised and socially just education in might look like in an Irish University setting. This is a question of emerging significance as Ireland begins to confront the growth (such as it is) of the kinds of populist political forces (Irexit, anti-vaxxers and other political groups on the far right) that gave rise to the Trump presidency and to Brexit. I am also keen to develop responses to what I have experienced as students’ increased (and worrying) proclivity to engage uncritically with the ‘fake news’ and other unreliable sources which support and bolster these movements.

  • To think about what decolonising Irish Higher Education might mean in principle and in practice
  • To work collaboratively with other members of the DISCs team to find ways to challenge misogyny, toxic masculinity, and the influence of the alt-right in the classroom and beyond
  • To inspire my students to become active and critically engaged citizens and advocates for social justice

COURSE DEVELOPMENT

To learn more about Jonathan’s course development and planning for the Spring 2020 semester, please choose from one of the links below.


REFLECTIONS AND OUTCOMES

To learn more about Jonathan’s pedagogical orientation and approach as well as his experiences of participating in the DISCs Project, please click on one of the links below.

What is the purpose of Higher Education?

What does it mean to incorporate social justice principles into my teaching?

Reflections on the DISCs Project