University of Guelph to Present Black Canadian Studies Program Next Year – Guelph | The Canadian News

The University of Guelph will launch a new Black Canadian Studies program next fall.

The university is only the third post-secondary school in Canada to offer this type of program.

Co-Chair Jade Ferguson said it is important to recognize that this program and courses come from scratch.

“This came from black students,” Ferguson said.

“So the black students themselves were the ones who guided us in how they wanted to be represented in the curriculum in all academic disciplines.”

The design of the program was led by Ferguson, who is also a professor of English at the university, in collaboration with the Guelph Black Students Association (GBSA).

The program also grew out of the School President Charlotte Yates’s Action Plan Against Racism.

Ferguson said that black college students in Canada, including Guelph, have engaged in fighting with school administrators to recognize the importance of addressing racism against blacks.

However, he says it wasn’t until the assassination of George Floyd last May, and the protests that followed in Canada and the United States, that universities were forced to respond.

“There were presidents at various Canadian universities, including the president of the University of Guelph in June 2020, who clearly denounced racism against blacks,” he said.

He said they were denouncing it not simply as a phenomenon that occurs elsewhere, but also happens on campuses.

The university was among more than 40 Canadian postsecondary schools that signed the Scarborough Charter last week, which combats racism against blacks and promotes the inclusion of blacks on college and university campuses.

Ferguson said a couple of Canadian black studies programs are already being offered at other Canadian universities.

And he believes more postsecondary schools will offer them.

“The University of Toronto announced its Canadian Black Studies certificate a week ago, the University of Waterloo also has a couple of new black studies programs,” he said.

“So I think we will look at several of these programs because I think it is one of the many steps that colleges need to take in terms of addressing racism against blacks and helping create inclusion of blacks in the university.”

Ferguson added that what makes the Guelph program unique is that it is attentive to the local history of the area, working with various community organizations such as the Guelph Black Heritage Society.

Ferguson also said that this curriculum can and should be taught in middle and elementary schools.

The minor degree program will cover topics such as political and labor movements, immigration, and health.

For more information about the program, including courses and faculty, you can go to school website.