New Black and African studies course at McMaster University is stepping stone to new program

McMaster University is introducing a new course on Black, African and African Diaspora studies that is poised to be a stepping stone for a new program.

Kojo Damptey, interim executive director of Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, will teach the course. He said the new class is part of the school's push to be more inclusive toward Black students and students of colour.

"We'll be talking about intersections of race, gender, class, sexuality, politics, globalization and we'll also be highlighting the work of Black professors at McMaster," Damptey explained.

He said the topics will include Africa's pre-colonial history, African ways of Indigeneity, LGBTQ+ and disability issues within the Black community, and Blackness and racism, among other topics.

The new course comes as the school investigates the experiences of Black student athletes after alumni alleged instances of racism.

Hamilton's Black community has also called on McMaster to fire Glenn De Caire, the head of school security and parking operations for his support of carding during his stint as the city's police chief.

Damptey is excited to teach the 12-week course and so far, roughly half of the 60 spots in the class are filled.

"There is an interest in understanding what Black communities have done and what kind of knowledge and research they've contributed to Canada and the world," he explained.

Alpha Abebe, an assistant professor in the Humanities department and the the interim faculty lead for African and African Diaspora Studies, told CBC News that calls from the Black community and recent anti-Black racism protests acround the world also motivated the school to create the course.

"Universities across the world and certainly in Canada, they've been very slow, I'd say, to really grow programs focused on Black and African studies," she noted.

"I can't say for certain why this course hasn't been offered [before] but I can say there have been people across campus who have been advocating for it for years."

The real goal is to create a full-fledged program at McMaster University.

Right now, McMaster offers a minor program that students can apply for if they take a certain number of specific courses across a range of programs.

But Damptey and faculty members including Bonny Ibhawoh, Juliet Daniel and Ameil Joseph are pushing for more.

"The hope is this course will be a beginning to formalize developing an undergraduate program and hopefully a graduate studies program as well," Damptey said.

Abebe added that in the future Damptey's course could become an official introductory course for the future program.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.