UK Professor and Students Challenge University's Closure of African History Course
16:36 18.07.2023 (Updated: 10:22 25.04.2024)
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Students of an African history course suspended by Chichester University in the UK launched a petition to reconsider the decision and keep a unique course on the university's curriculum last week. Thousands of people have joined the move to save the course and this opportunity to learn about the continent's history and heritage.
The course, called Masters of Research in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora, was suspended by the university without a justifiable reason and any consultation with students and lecturer, said Hakim Adi, a professor of the history of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester, who led the course for several years, in an interview with Sputnik Africa.
Also known as the MRes, it was first suggested at a conference History Matters, which was held in 2015 to highlight the alarmingly low numbers of history students and teachers of African and Caribbean heritage in Britain. According to the professor, young people in Britain were being "put off studying history" because of its Eurocentricity. Therefore, the conference recommended creating a course "to encourage older students to come back to history."
"Many people have been put off history in school and so on, and it would be great, people said, to have a course, which could encourage people to study history, encourage people to undertake research into the areas they're interested in," he explained.
The course was launched in 2019 in an online format and attracted students from different parts of the world, including Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Hong Kong. He noted that the course has been successful, as in just four years, seven students have gone on to pursue PhDs, with one of them recently completing her doctorate.
Professor Adi added that the course had a significant impact on young historians, as well as older ones, "who have come back to history and done useful and important research."
"It attracted slightly older students, people who had a love of history, who wanted to understand how to carry out research, how to become historians," the professor said.
Reasons Behind the Suspension
The University of Chichester's decision to suspend the course was based on the premise that the MRe does not recruit enough students to financially justify its existence, along with Professor Adi's post. The professor stated that the university has never set targets for student recruitment for the course, but this year decided to do so in the two weeks before it was closed.
He explained that technically the university didn't close the course, but suspended recruitment for this September and for January next year as well.
"So closing it because we had one fewer than the university's target [five enrolled students out of six targeted], the target that was set two weeks [...] before it was closed is a very unfair way of dealing with things. And of course, there was no discussion or consultation with me," the historian stated.
The professor recalled that the university had never promoted the course as it should have been marketed. He noted that he had repeatedly complained about the lack of publicity and promotion for the course, stating that it was something the university "should be proud of, should be championing, should be seen as something very, very important."
He added that his job was also under threat because the course wasn't recruiting enough students. The professor suggested that the university was using the course's enrollment numbers to "get rid" of him.
"My job is being connected to this course, which is being closed, and I'm being told that I will be out of a job unless I can come up with a way of bringing more money into the university," he said, adding: "And of course, they're trying to save money by getting rid of other teachers. It's not just me."
The historian noted that his students have started a petition that has already amassed over 3000 signatures, with people all over the world demanding that the course be kept open, and the professor remain in his post. He explained that the petition is presented in the form of an open letter to the vice-chancellor of the university, adding that the letter has not yet been sent as signatures are still being collected.
Professor Adi further elaborated that he and the course that he had initiated have recently received "so much support" from various people, who expressed their hope that this unique course will be saved. He emphasized that this support demonstrates that if the course had been promoted by the university, it would have had many more students enrolled.
