Celebrating Black History Month 2019

Black History Month logo from https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/

Today is the first day of Black History Month.  This year we are celebrating Black and African diaspora histories in a number of ways. 

Our research seminar programmes for October include speakers presenting topics that intersect with Black histories:

On Thursday 10^th October, Dr Claire Eldridge from the University of Leeds will speak to the Modern History seminar about ‘Conflict and Community in the Trenches: Military Justice, Colonial Soldiers and the French Army during the First World War’ at 5.15pm in room 1.10, St Katharine’s Lodge.

On Monday 14^th October, Dr Stephanie Wynne-Jones from the University of York will speak to the Medieval Studies seminar about ‘The Swahili world in the medieval globe: writing history with things’ at 1.15pm in the Old Class Library, St John’s House.

Later that day (Monday 14^th October), at 4pm Dr Kate Law from the University of Nottingham will speak to the Modern History seminar about ‘”A delicate subject”: Family Planning and Apartheid, South Africa c. 1974-1994’ in room 1.10, St Katharine’s Lodge.

Other research seminars relevant to Black histories will also be held further into the academic year – for a full programme see here.

Finally, those of you who are not newcomers to the School may remember that last year we marked Black History Month by compiling a reading list of ‘essential texts’ on African and African Diaspora (including Black British, African American, and Afro European) histories. Many staff members pledged portions of their library allowance to buy any books on the list that were not held by the library.  When we compiled this reading list last year we acknowledged that by its nature it would always be a ‘work in progress’, which would require revising and updating as time went on.  This year, again, we would like to invite all students and staff to look through the reading list and let us know if there’s anything that’s not on there, that you think we should add.  Maybe you are new to St Andrews and are seeing the list with fresh eyes.  Maybe you’ve been here a while but have encountered a book in the past year – newly published or a classic in a field that’s new to you – that you think is now ‘essential reading’.  Please email any suggestions to Dr Kate Ferris (kf50) by the end of the month.  We’ll add these to the reading list, and if any are not already in the library’s collections we’ll do our best to purchase these.  In this way you’ll be making a tangible and lasting difference to the university’s holdings in the fields of Black and African diaspora histories that will help inform our research and teaching for years to come!