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The University of Cambridge's English faculty is taking steps to "decolonise" the curriculum in response to a student campaign.

Academics at the world-leading university met at a teaching forum earlier this month, where they agreed to "actively [seek] to ensure the presence of BME (black and minority ethnic) texts and topics on lecture lists".

The teaching forum was set up by the university so that teaching staff could regularly discuss the content of the curriculum and any teaching issues, although it has no formal powers to enforce changes in the curriculum.

They also considered introducing an "introductory course" in the first week of the academic year to "offer perspectives on the global contexts and history of English literature".

The move comes after a group of students taking a post-colonial studies paper penned an open letter calling for the faculty to "decolonise its reading lists and incorporate postcolonial thought alongside its existing curriculum".

The letter, which has been signed by more than 160 students across different subjects and levels of study, claims it is currently "far too easy to complete an English degree without noticing the absence of authors who are not white".

It continues: "We believe that for the English department to truly boast academically rigorous thought and practice, non-white authors and postcolonial thought must be incorporated meaningfully into the curriculum."

Speaking to student newspaper Varsity, Lola Olufemi, the Cambridge University women's officer and active member of the campaign, said: "There needs to be a complete shift in the way the department treats western literature.

"Non-white authors must be centred in the same way Shakespeare, Eliot, Swift and Pope are. Their stories, thoughts and accounts should be given serious intellectual and moral weight."

The proposals form part of a larger university-wide 'Decolonise Cambridge' campaign which seeks to challenge standard approaches to how texts are taught and studied.

Although the campaign has been met with widespread support among many in the student body and staff, some have criticised "major problems" with the campaign's approach.

Speaking to the telegraph, Gill Evans, a professor of medieval theology and intellectual history at Cambridge, said: "If you distort the content of history and literature syllabuses to insert a statistically diverse or equal proportion of material from cultures taken globally, you surely lose sight of the historical truth.

"The west explored the world from the sixteenth century and took control - colonially or otherwise - of a very large part of it. It is false to pretend that never happened."

A statement issued by the University of Cambridge read: "While we can confirm a letter was received from a group of students taking the postcolonial paper, academic discussions are at a very early stage to look at how postcolonial literature is taught.

"Changes will not lead to any one author being dropped in favour of others - that is not the way the system works at Cambridge.

"There is no set curriculum as tutors individually lead the studies of their group of students and recommend their reading lists - those reading lists can include any author.

"The teaching forum has no decision-making powers and its decision points are questions to be discussed by the faculty.

"The Education Committee in the faculty will look at those points in a robust academic debate. The faculty will constantly look at what papers will be compulsory."

Students and academics will gather at a meeting on November 1 to discuss future steps.