Birmingham City University urged not to axe Black studies MA

More than 100 academics, writers and activists from around the world have signed an open letter condemning plans to close an MA in Black studies and global justice at Birmingham City University (BCU), just months after it was first launched.

The move follows the controversial closure of BCU’s undergraduate course in Black studies in 2024, and has prompted warnings that Black studies are being erased from UK higher education.

Five Black members of staff are at risk of redundancy, including Prof Kehinde Andrews, a leading commentator who pioneered the development of BCU’s Black studies programme.

Andrews said he and four colleagues were called into a meeting with just 24 hours’ notice to be told that a decision had been taken in February to close down the MA. The university has blamed low recruitment. Eight students are currently on the MA course.

Andrews added: “The MA only started this year, so they have given it a few months before deciding to cut it, with zero consultation with staff or students. They have also admitted to not completing an equality impact assessment.”

He told the Guardian: “It really is about erasure. The university should be ashamed.”

Andrews has now written an open letter to the university’s board of governors, calling for the decision to be reviewed. He claims the conduct of the university and its decision-making are “deeply flawed” and potentially discriminatory.

UK universities are currently engulfed in a financial crisis and many have implemented widespread cost-cutting measures. There are claims, however, that cuts are disproportionately affecting Black scholarship.

Andrews cites the case of Prof Hakim Adi, who was made redundant in 2023 by the University of Chichester, which cut his MRes on the history of Africa and the African diaspora, and described it as “a worrying trend”.

“In the US there is an attack on Black intellectual thought, in the UK there is so little of it on offer in higher education that the bigger problem is neglect. When we do manage to offer such courses they should be nurtured, not stamped out at the earliest opportunity,” Andrews writes in his letter to the board.

Among the signatories to the letter is Prof Kalwant Bhopal, director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education at Birmingham University, who said the closure of the BCU MA course “signifies a turn towards reinforcing Eurocentric knowledge and Whiteness in which Black students and academics will no longer have the space to challenge structural, institutional and individual acts of racism in higher education.

“This follows a pattern of previous courses which have closed down and is an attempt by universities to attack and silence Black intellectual scholarship reinforcing White privilege.”

Other signatories include journalist and author Yomi Adegoke, artist, author and activist Akala, Labour MP Marsha de Cordova and Nicola Rollock, professor of social policy and race at King’s College London, as well as academics from around the world.

A university spokesperson said that after a review of BCU’s postgraduate portfolio, a small number of courses – including the Black studies MA – would be withdrawn from September because of low demand, though current students would be able to complete their studies.

“The university is exploring opportunities for alternative provision in each case. A consultation process is under way with affected staff to discuss the impact of the course closures and explore reasonable options to minimise roles at risk.”