COM2614
ASSIGNMENT 3 SEMESTER 1 2025
UNIQUE NO.
DUE DATE: 22 MAY 2025
,COM2614 Assignment 3 (PORTFOLIO) Semester 1 2025 - DUE 22 May 2025
Reflection Entry – Week 1
Date: 18 February 2025
Reading/Topic: Introduction to Decolonial Communication Studies
A. Initial Reactions (232 words)
This week’s reading introduced decoloniality as a lens through which to rethink
mainstream communication theories. Initially, I felt overwhelmed by the unfamiliar
terminology like “epistemic disobedience” and “coloniality of knowledge.” However, I
was also intrigued and energized. I realized that much of what I had previously studied
in communication was framed through a Western lens—Shannon and Weaver’s model,
for instance, never questioned who has the right to speak or what counts as legitimate
knowledge.
What challenged me most was the notion that even academic frameworks are
colonized. As someone raised in Kenya with strong communal storytelling traditions, I
could immediately see how African ways of knowing—oral histories, proverbs,
communal dialogue—are often sidelined in favour of linear, written, and individualistic
modes of communication.
This week made me reflect deeply on the erasure of indigenous knowledge systems
in my education, including how I’ve been taught to value certain kinds of texts or authors
over others. I began to feel a sense of urgency and responsibility—to begin unlearning
dominant models and give space to other voices.
B. Critical Analysis (345 words)
, The foundational communication models—like the Shannon-Weaver model—assume
objectivity, clarity, and linearity, reflecting a Western worldview that prioritizes
efficiency over context, relationality, or power dynamics. This week's material critiques
those paradigms, arguing they serve colonial interests by silencing alternative ways of
knowing and communicating.
For instance, in many African cultures, communication is circular, symbolic, and
participatory. It relies on context, shared values, and community presence—elements
largely absent from dominant Western theories. The reading referenced thinkers like
Walter Mignolo and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who urge us to delink from Eurocentric frames
and reconnect with local epistemologies. Their work reminded me of my grandmother's
storytelling: every tale carried a lesson, required patience, and demanded a communal
space for interpretation.
What’s missing in most Western paradigms is the acknowledgement of colonial
histories that shaped modern academia. These models were developed in and for
industrial societies, with no recognition of how knowledge was extracted from colonized
peoples. Furthermore, the idea that "science" is neutral or communication is a value-
free exchange is itself a colonial assumption.
Power is central here. Who gets to define valid knowledge? Why are scholars from the
Global South still cited less or made to publish in Western journals for credibility? The
reading pushed me to interrogate not only communication theories but also the
academic system I participate in.
This week forces us to ask: how can we decolonize communication without centering
the very voices it once silenced?
C. Personal Transformation (276 words)
ASSIGNMENT 3 SEMESTER 1 2025
UNIQUE NO.
DUE DATE: 22 MAY 2025
,COM2614 Assignment 3 (PORTFOLIO) Semester 1 2025 - DUE 22 May 2025
Reflection Entry – Week 1
Date: 18 February 2025
Reading/Topic: Introduction to Decolonial Communication Studies
A. Initial Reactions (232 words)
This week’s reading introduced decoloniality as a lens through which to rethink
mainstream communication theories. Initially, I felt overwhelmed by the unfamiliar
terminology like “epistemic disobedience” and “coloniality of knowledge.” However, I
was also intrigued and energized. I realized that much of what I had previously studied
in communication was framed through a Western lens—Shannon and Weaver’s model,
for instance, never questioned who has the right to speak or what counts as legitimate
knowledge.
What challenged me most was the notion that even academic frameworks are
colonized. As someone raised in Kenya with strong communal storytelling traditions, I
could immediately see how African ways of knowing—oral histories, proverbs,
communal dialogue—are often sidelined in favour of linear, written, and individualistic
modes of communication.
This week made me reflect deeply on the erasure of indigenous knowledge systems
in my education, including how I’ve been taught to value certain kinds of texts or authors
over others. I began to feel a sense of urgency and responsibility—to begin unlearning
dominant models and give space to other voices.
B. Critical Analysis (345 words)
, The foundational communication models—like the Shannon-Weaver model—assume
objectivity, clarity, and linearity, reflecting a Western worldview that prioritizes
efficiency over context, relationality, or power dynamics. This week's material critiques
those paradigms, arguing they serve colonial interests by silencing alternative ways of
knowing and communicating.
For instance, in many African cultures, communication is circular, symbolic, and
participatory. It relies on context, shared values, and community presence—elements
largely absent from dominant Western theories. The reading referenced thinkers like
Walter Mignolo and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who urge us to delink from Eurocentric frames
and reconnect with local epistemologies. Their work reminded me of my grandmother's
storytelling: every tale carried a lesson, required patience, and demanded a communal
space for interpretation.
What’s missing in most Western paradigms is the acknowledgement of colonial
histories that shaped modern academia. These models were developed in and for
industrial societies, with no recognition of how knowledge was extracted from colonized
peoples. Furthermore, the idea that "science" is neutral or communication is a value-
free exchange is itself a colonial assumption.
Power is central here. Who gets to define valid knowledge? Why are scholars from the
Global South still cited less or made to publish in Western journals for credibility? The
reading pushed me to interrogate not only communication theories but also the
academic system I participate in.
This week forces us to ask: how can we decolonize communication without centering
the very voices it once silenced?
C. Personal Transformation (276 words)
