Introduction

While the Congregation of Holy Cross has had a considerable influence on education and society in Bangladesh, no major study has examined the nature of its impact and how it has unfolded amidst transformations to the region and to the Catholic Church over time. This text is the first systematic examination of the Congregation’s educational mission in Bangladesh over time. Drawing on archival and oral history research, it examines the educational history of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh, particularly zooming in on two of its major institutions there: Notre Dame College (for men) and Holy Cross College (for women). Unlike much of the past research on the topic, this text features a local and post-colonial educational perspective, asking the question whether the Church and the education it provides in Bangladesh can be fully decolonized. This chapter gives a background to our research, before describing our post-colonial approach and our methodology. It also includes a summary of the rest of the chapters that follow.