ABSTRACT
Within academia generally, and library and information science (LIS) specifically, there is a Eurocentric colonial focus that hardly goes against the status quo. By focusing on the ways certain perspectives and knowledge contributions are silenced or killed in the LIS classroom, we add to the historical examples of epistemicides, including slavery, Nazi book burnings, colonization/language genocide, and the Salem witch hunts. We define epistemicide as the killing, silencing, devaluing, or annihilation of a knowledge system. We believe epistemicide happens when several epistemic injustices occur, which, when considered collectively, reflect a structured and systemic oppression of particular ways of knowing. This chapter explores epistemicide in the context of curriculum and pedagogy within the field of LIS, suggesting ways to name epistemic injustices when they occur and to address epistemic injustices through social justice interventions. Librarians are graduating from MLIS programs without the skills to work competently with diverse communities. We believe this is due to curricular injustices in LIS: (1) inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) courses are electives; (2) there is a lack of student understanding of/interest in IDEA topics; (3) technology courses lack IDEA concept integration; and (4) some instructors/professors (especially those with tenure and in power with decision-making capabilities) lack the skills to create equitable curricula. This chapter closes with recommendations for working toward curriculum justice in MLIS programs.
