Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross, London SE14 6NW

Dear Warden and Members of Council,

We understand that the MA in Black British Literature programme is under threat due to the extent of the cuts the College is imposing across 11 departments, including reducing the English Department to half of its capacity. We are deeply concerned that this will include removing the MA in Black British Literature and we call on you to confirm that it will remain as a taught degree at Goldsmiths College.

It is an MA which has protected characteristics and spearheads the commitment to decolonising the curriculum, thus driving the College's race and justice strategy. It remains the only taught degree in the world of this kind and during its nine years, has received accolades including the Students Union Teaching Award (2018) for ‘Compelling and Diverse Curriculum Content’.

Goldsmiths has a proud history of innovation, especially with respect to providing courses for historically excluded groups which, in the 1970’s, led to the university opening up to the south London community. This hugely influenced the curriculum and pedagogy of youth and community work nationally.

We fully appreciate that the HE sector faces significant financial challenges and that cuts are being imposed across most institutions. Yet, given the decades of neglect on black curriculum and pedagogy, we believe that institutions have a duty to ringfence programmes such as the MA in Black British Literature and not subject them to the same funding formulae as other programmes and courses.  Repair, restoration and restitution on account of past exclusionary practices are the very essence of decoloniality and therefore, the task of decolonising both the curriculum and the institution. The MA is unique and it is a testament to the vision of your own staff who are doing extraordinary work including, Emerita Professor Joan Anim-Addo and Professor Deirdre Osborne who have always been alert to the responsibility Goldsmiths has in the face of the existential reality of a growing population of British born Black and Global Majority creatives. 

This current generation has a right to be able to access a programme such as the MA in Black Literature, especially as the MA underscores the difference between studying English Literature and literatures in English. Goldsmiths should aim to be at the centre and in the leadership of that renaissance, rather than seeking to abort its growth. In doing so, Goldsmiths could show itself as a flagship in promoting decolonising and being relevant to the growing population of Black and Global Majority students in the country.

This course is clearly a brandmaker. Therefore, it would be difficult to understand a decision to cut the course as a purely financial one. Businesses are built on their brands and USP’s. Goldsmiths should be actively promoting the MA as a national brand, rather than destroying these two key elements of any successful enterprise.

We do understand that the numbers of the students need to grow yet it seems that the University has failed to recognise that the course leader [Professor Osborne]  is noted on the College website as a ‘visibility gamechanger’ for a reason.  Through her publications and research outputs, she has consistently brought research, project funds and recognition to Goldsmiths College, raising the national and international status and profile of the MA in Black British Literature programme and by so doing, Goldsmiths College, in this field.

Therefore, retaining staff of such calibre to continue to lead this original programme is key. From the alumni, PhD students have emerged, one receiving a prestigious LAHP scholarship; and from the paid internships offered on the programme by Hachette, one of the students is now a full-time employee of this global publishing house. Former students have become award-winning writers such as Liv Little, Kandace Siobhan Walker and Mendez. 
https://www.gold.ac.uk/news/quercus-x-black-british-literature/

Heather Marks (2016 graduate), Writer-filmmaker and Creative Producer said, “The MA in Black British Literature, is a lifeline for students like me who had never experienced this breadth of literature before with such critical attention. I always say it was a complete re-education, a revolutionising of my literary landscape. The MA is a necessary programme for the literary ecology of this country, with far-reaching benefits - from the teachers who take their learning back to their classrooms, to the students who go onto PhDs growing the critical attention on Black British Writing, to the writers and artists it produces." 

Desta Haile (2017 graduate), the Deputy Director of the Royal African Society (2021-2023) and multi-award winning British-Eritrean singer, writer, and educator, explains on the College website, the important effect it had on her development. 
https://www.gold.ac.uk/news/afritondo-prize-2021/

Denise Rawls (current part-time MA student), the Executive Director of the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers, co-led a Bookshop session for the 1st International Black Speculative Writing Festival at Goldsmiths as said, “Without this MA are we saying Black British stories are not worthy of academic study and Black British experiences don’t matter?”

Yet the master’s programme has never been promoted with sufficient weight, left only to word of mouth and in-kind support. For example, this year, Professor Osborne’s support for and engagement with the first International Black Speculative Writing Festival, helped to make the festival a great success, (based on evaluation and feedback from speakers and participants). At the same time, she ensured that the English and Creative Writing Department was embedded in all promotional material with the MA in Black British Literature at the forefront, with its students leading bookclub sessions within the programme.  

Therefore, in retaining the programme we suggest the following objectives should be considered to consolidate and further enhance its status:

 

1 To ensure that the Masters programme in Black British Literature is retained and  led by Professor Deirdre Osborne so that her knowledge and expertise maintains the collaborative pedagogy pioneered by this MA. An essential factor of this is to produce the next generations of Black and Global Majority academics and creatives .

 2 To promote the Masters programme sufficiently so that it can achieve the student numbers wanted, expected and deserved.

 3. To provide bursaries for students to study the MA through the Equity initiatives. 

 4. To establish a taught online Foundation course in Black British Literature to cultivate preparation for the specialist study and professional development the MA provides. 

 5. To redress the absence created since Emerita Professor Anim-Addo's retirement.  A Black academic is necessary to work with Professor Osborne to underwrite the collaborative model for which the MA Black British Literature has successfully been built on.

 

 We hope that you will consider how serious the loss of this ground-breaking programme would be, as removing it, we believe, would affect the credibility of the university in supporting and producing high class creative graduates, who contribute to the wealth of the British economy. Otherwise, as was noted in a recent news article in The Guardian, (27 March) to do so would be committing “cultural and social vandalism.”
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/mar/27/goldsmiths-university-of-london-redundancy-plans

We are in full support of the messages in the current open letters, standing with staff and the post graduate students who are on the verge of having their academic and research careers destroyed by Goldsmiths proposed cuts.

If Goldsmiths is serious in its commitment to diversity and equality and decolonising the curriculum, we urge you to ensure that the MA in Black British Literature is maintained.

www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-black-british-literature 

 

Signed by supporters of the MA in Black British Literature, who are passionate about the need to decolonise the curriculum and educational institutions.