How should Higher Education respond to Black Lives Matter? (Panel presentation and discussion)

Description

The global 2020 BLM protest saw increased societal awareness of the reality of racism, with many people advised to educate themselves. It put the responsibility on schools, businesses and employers to educate their staff. It also revealed a gap in the education system. Young people petitioned the state to include African history in schools. There were calls to reimagine Ireland that will see African history, Black Studies and Antiracism training integrated into the education system.

The curriculum, the treatment of minority and international students and staff, and the failures to address racism in the workplace and classroom have largely remained unchanged and unchanging. Many ad hoc responses by institutions expected migrants and Black people to provide the emotional labour for these calls for education, and to bear the cost for educating the society through voluntary labour. Black activists are routinely invited as guests lecturers to share their stories, reveal their vulnerability, the pain and shame of being victims of racism. This is compounded by the absence of Black and African scholars in tenured roles and no professor of African descent in Ireland. How should the Higher Education respond to this global call that Black Lives Matter?

Period	06 May 2021
Held at	African Scholars Association of Ireland (AFSAI), Ireland
Degree of Recognition	International