Lecture by Dr Aaron Teo: The Limits of Diversity

Dr Aaron Teo (University of Southern Queensland, Australia)
“The Limits of Diversity: (Anti-Asian) Racism, Anti-Racism, and Institutional Contradictions in Internationalised Settler Colonial Universities” – Presentation and discussion

Host: Dr Philipp Dorestal (University of Hamburg)

Set against the backdrop of current transnational “post-truth” climates—marked by heightened political polarisation, growing hostility toward critical scholarship, and increasing pressures on universities and educators to remain 'neutral'—this lecture maps (anti-Asian) racism across universities in settler colonial contexts, with a primary focus on Australia while drawing parallels with comparable systems. It engages the Australian Human Rights Commission’s recent landmark Racism@Uni study, which evidenced racism as systemic, pervasive, and embedded in everyday institutional practices, governance structures, and campus cultures. Using Asian international students as a key illustrative example—frequently racialised through stereotypes of academic instrumentality, linguistic deficiency, and economic value—the lecture situates these experiences within broader racial formations that shape multiple negatively racialised groups. The analysis foregrounds how racism in universities is produced through the intersecting logics of settler colonialism, racial capitalism, and the global education market, which position certain bodies as both desirable and expendable. It then draws on critical scholarship on diversity and equity, particularly Sara Ahmed, to interrogate the limits of institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Ahmed’s concept of “non-performativity” is used to examine how diversity policies can function as symbolic commitments that fail to disrupt entrenched racial hierarchies, a concern echoed in the concerns around racial (il)literacy in curriculum, pedagogy, reporting, and broader institutional processes identified in the Racism@Uni study. The lecture advances three provocations: that racism in settler colonial universities is structural rather than incidental; that DEI frameworks may obscure institutional power while appearing progressive; and that addressing racism requires enforceable, institution-wide anti-racism strategies. In so doing, it pushes back against ongoing challenges to academic freedom, racial justice, and the role of education in confronting structural inequities often embodied in diversity rhetoric, and calls instead for transformative, accountable approaches to equity in higher education.

The event is part of the lecture series "Collective Responsibility: Racism (and Criticism of It) in Higher Education" in summer semester 2026. 

Our Code of Conduct and the University of Hamburg’s netiquette apply to both in-person and online events.

Code of Conduct of the project "Collective Responsibility: Racism (and Criticism of It) in Higher Education"

We understand colonialism as a system of exploitation, violence and inequality that is permeated by racism, which produces and reinforces it. Colonial history and its reappraisal is, in a critical-reflexive sense, the reappraisal of a "shared history", a divided history that must be analysed and understood in its global interconnectedness and continuities.

Therefore, we cannot tolerate any open or subliminal xenophobic, racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, discriminatory and/or colonial-revisionist statements, neither in analogue nor in digital events and discussions.

Netiquette of the University of Hamburg

The University of Hamburg fosters and supports open dialog. This is why we look forward to comments and active participation in discussions. To ensure that communication remains respectful and fact-based, please observe the following general rules when writing your comments:

- Do not use insulting language, or engage in slander, libel, or provocation with vulgar, violence-inciting, discriminating, racist, sexist, hate-filled and/or illegal statements or content.
- Do not make contributions involving commercial content.
- Statements and comments should be factually related to the topic in question and/or should involve topics related to the University of Hamburg. Keep comments relevant to the topic and discussion in question.
- Check which personal data you publish in your comments. These are available to the general public. You may not publish the personal data of third parties. To protect the personal rights of third parties who may be involved, such comments will be deleted.
- Before you publish your comments, make sure you have reviewed copyright matters. In the case of third party content, the rights must be available. Cite quotations accordingly and provide the source.
- Observe the rules above when providing links. We retain the right to remove comments containing links to content that does not comply with the rules outlined above.
- All comments are reviewed for compliance with the rules outlined above. In case of violations, the team at the University of Hamburg and/or the person responsible for reviewing the channel content may delete the comment.