{"id":620640,"date":"2026-06-04T11:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T11:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/620640\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T11:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T11:01:09","slug":"uk-universitys-axing-of-black-studies-ma-has-dangerous-parallel-with-us-says-academic-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/620640\/","title":{"rendered":"UK university\u2019s axing of black studies MA has \u2018dangerous parallel\u2019 with US, says academic | Higher education"},"content":{"rendered":"

A leading US civil rights scholar has urged Birmingham City University<\/a> (BCU) to reverse its decision to close its black studies course, comparing it to the attack on diversity, equity and inclusion in the US.<\/p>\n

Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia University, expressed \u201cprofound concern\u201d about plans to withdraw the MA in black studies and global justice, just months after the course was launched.<\/p>\n

In a statement shared on social media during her UK book tour, Crenshaw called the decision an \u201cescalating assault on black studies\u201d and an \u201cideological, extremist-led campaign that has now explicitly travelled across the Atlantic\u201d.<\/p>\n

Crenshaw said: \u201cThe systematic dismantling of black studies in the United States is mirroring a dangerous parallel in the United Kingdom, where the discipline now faces the threat of total erasure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains absolutely essential that the truth regarding the history, contributions, perspectives and lived experiences of black people in Britain and across the global diaspora is preserved, taught and championed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described black studies as an \u201cessential space of critical inquiry\u201d and said the community built around the subject at BCU was \u201cglobally renowned\u201d.<\/p>\n

The course is due to be withdrawn from September after a review of the university\u2019s postgraduate portfolio. BCU has said the decision was driven by low student recruitment, with just eight students currently enrolled on the course.<\/p>\n

The decision follows the controversial closure <\/a>of the university\u2019s undergraduate black studies programme in 2024, and has prompted warnings from academics that black scholarship is being disproportionately affected by cost-cutting measures across higher education.<\/p>\n

Crenshaw said: \u201cThis dismantling is not merely an institutional realignment; it is a direct attack on the production of critical knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof Kehinde Andrews, a leading commentator who pioneered the programme, previously told the Guardian<\/a> that staff and students were given no meaningful opportunity to challenge the decision.<\/p>\n

An open letter calling for the closure to be reconsidered has attracted support from academics, politicians and cultural figures including Prof Kalwant Bhopal, Akala, Yomi Adegoke, and Marsha de Cordova.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for BCU previously said that a small number of postgraduate courses would be cut because of low demand, but that existing students would be able to complete their studies. The university also said it was consulting affected staff and \u201cexploring opportunities for alternative provision\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A leading US civil rights scholar has urged Birmingham City University (BCU) to reverse its decision to close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-620640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}