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Latest news from the campaign to save the MRes in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora, and Professor Hakim Adi's post at the University of Chichester:













 

About the campaign:

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Translations: French

History Matters, alongside students and friends of Professor Hakim Adi, have launched a campaign following the news that Professor Hakim Adi’s post is at risk of termination and that all recruitment to the unique Masters by Research (MRes), History of Africa and the African Diaspora has been suspended. We hope you will consider offering your support and opposing the University of Chichester’s actions by signing this petition. 

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Alarmingly, overnight the University of Chichester has shut down an entire course. Notably, a comparable course is not offered by this or any other university in the UK.  With this imposition, the University is threatening Professor Adi (the first and only Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora in Britain, and also Britain's first African descended Professor of History) with redundancy.

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The idea for the MRes emerged as a recommendation from the History Matters conference in 2015, as did the Young Historians Project. At that time, the conference and broader History Matters initiative were supported by the university. The MRes was initially mainly intended to train mature students of African and Caribbean heritage as historians. Since then, it has:

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• attracted students from Africa, the Caribbean, North America, and Hong Kong as well as many from Britain;

• produced seven MRes students who have gone on to undertake studies at PhD level, six of them at the University of Chichester. Only recently Claudia Tomlinson successfully became the first MRes graduate to receive her PhD at the University of Chichester, a great achievement for her and for the MRes;

• trained students to undertake research focusing on the underrepresented history of African and Caribbean people in Britain;

• facilitated through its alumni the founding of the Open Access, History Matters Journal with contributions from dozens of historians, many from African and Caribbean backgrounds.

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The rationale of the University of Chichester appears to be based on the premise that the MRes in the History of Africa and the African Diaspora does not recruit enough students to financially justify the continued existence of Professor Adi’s post. No account appears to have been taken of the fact that the university has not adequately marketed the MRes. Furthermore, Professor Adi’s employment preceded the development of the MRes and therefore should not be associated with one course. In addition, no account appears to have been taken of the recruitment of PhD students Professor Adi supervises, nor the fact that many have been recruited directly from the MRes. Finally, the university has never before expressed dissatisfaction with recruitment.

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We demand answers about the lack of transparency in this process. We want to know why students, staff, and chiefly Professor Adi, were not consulted and the decision was taken out of their hands.  It needs to be explained why the University has not deployed its full resources to market the course. Had this been addressed, it would have contributed to increased recruitment levels to the MRes. 

We come together as members of the Black community, research community and community of students, academics, teachers and practitioners to condemn this action and demand the reversal of such a momentous and unjustifiable decision.