ABSTRACT
This chapter interrogates the possibility of attaining a decolonised media and communication curriculum in Zimbabwe using the Ministry of Higher Education’s Education 5.0’s Heritage-based philosophy, the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE)-approved media and communication studies programs, Midlands State University’s (MSU’s) “ignored” Media and Society Studies programme, and selected recent publications by Zimbabwean media academics. Grounded in decolonial theory and utilising qualitative content analysis, the chapter found that despite increasing calls for the decolonisation of media and communication theory and methodology, Western theory and methodology still dominate Zimbabwean scholars’ academic writings. It also found that the calls are largely contained in two edited book volumes on the decolonisation of African media and communication studies. Similarly, the study discovered that Education 5.0, in general, and Heritage-based philosophy, in particular, speak explicitly to STEM subjects and are silent on Arts and Humanities. It also found that all the recent ZIMCHE-approved media and communication programs are Eurocentric in form and content. The curriculum and academic output, the recent upsurge in calls for the decolonisation of communication and media studies notwithstanding, reflect the Global North’s origins of, and continued dominance over, the discipline in Zimbabwe.
