The 2024 Kennedy Center student research fellows unpacked the impacts of colonialism. Now, their findings can help bring peace around the world.
History classes often teach about colonialism, explaining what it is and maybe even how it happens. But what about the repercussions of colonialism? After all, colonialism often affects countries for decades and can be seen in a plethora of countries worldwide. During the fall 2024 semester, the Kennedy Center studied the topic “Legacies of Colonialism” and selected three students to research the impacts of colonization in a country or region of their choice. On December 11, 2024, these students—Tala Alnasser (French, Public Relations ’26), Alexander Keogh (Chinese, Psychology ’26), and Annie Walker (Editing & Publishing, Sociology ’27)—each presented their research on colonialism and showed how a humanities understanding of it can benefit generations to come.
Evangelizing Sharia: French Colonial Influence in Tunisian Religious Law
Presented by Tala Alnasser
According to Alnasser, colonization makes a huge impact on the religious freedoms of natives—especially in Tunisia, a historically Muslim country located in northern Africa. From 1881–1956, France ruled over Tunisia and introduced a mindset that Alnasser referred to as “the Christian gaze.” She explained that this gaze assumes a European Christian society as the norm and labels other societies as deviations from that norm. Most often, this led to colonizers forcing Christian practices and values on natives in efforts to “educate” the newly-acquired region.
For her research, Alnasser dove into Tunisian history and religious law to see the impact of enforced religion on the region. She quickly found that the Christian gaze eventually became embedded into Tunisian society, as is apparent in the adoption of a European-influenced constitution. Alnasser concluded that further study of the Christian gaze will help countries adopt modern ways of governance that “focus on a way forward that is authentic to the community’s needs and actual history.”
A City in Transition: Exploring Hong Kong’s Identity in the New Millennium
Presented by Alexander Keogh
In 1997, a two-system government model began to replace British rule in Hong Kong with the hopes of returning it to the People’s Republic of China over the course of fifty years. Though this transition hasn’t been completed, changes in governance have already increased political tensions in Hong Kong—a likely result of more than 100 years of British colonial rule. Seeing that most news sites around the world only offer limited, and somewhat biased, explanations of political events in Hong Kong, Keogh set out to find first-hand experiences of the political climate there. To do so, he interviewed dozens of Hong Kong citizens living abroad “to understand how Hong Kongers identify with their city throughout these political transitions.”
After talking with participants who had differing opinions on the new laws and subsequent protests in Hong Kong, he quickly noticed an important trend: “Whether [they] participated in protests or not . . . all the people that we interviewed express[ed] a strengthening of their connection and identification with Hong Kong.” Separation from China during British colonial rule meant that Hong Kong developed a different cultural and national identity than the People’s Republic of China, creating the sense of patriotism Keogh noted in interviews. Keogh stressed that if we want to gain an accurate understanding of events in Hong Kong, we will need to “ask the people and amplify their voices.”
Words of Conquest: American Imperial Linguistics in the Philippines
Presented by Annie Walker
The Philippines was colonized by the United States for almost fifty years, starting in 1898. Soon after, Americans adopted what they called a “benevolent” treatment of the indigenous peoples there by teaching American values, cultural practices, and even the English language. However well-intended this treatment may have been, Walker explained that it caused drastic linguistic changes in the country as “English [became] not just a mark of literacy, but a stepping stone to better jobs, social prestige, and alignment with American cultural values.” This colonization ultimately overtook many of the cultural and linguistic practices native to the Philippines, putting many Filippino languages at risk of extinction.
The implementation of English into Filipino societies simultaneously introduced Western ideologies of national languages or language hierarchies into the Philippines; this meant that even after the Philippines became its own republic, Western ideologies on national language continued to cause conflict around the country. After diving into numerous post-colonial alterations to Filipino language laws, Walker concluded, “Rather than clinging to the singular linguistic model of English, there must be a more inclusive approach to nation building through linguistics—one that recognizes the coexistence and equal value of all Filipino languages.”
Watch each student research fellow’s full presentation here.