The Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) will host a panel discussion on Tuesday, Feb. 22 from noon to 1:15 p.m. titled, “Why Black History (Month) Matters.”
Dean and Associate Vice-President, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Thomas Loebel, will moderate the event where panellists will gather to honour and celebrate Black History Month and share the importance of continuing conversations about Black history, cultural and lived experiences.
“The 28-day intensity of Black History Month celebrates the richness of Black cultures globally, including their foundational role in the development of civilizations old and new,” says Loebel. “That focused intensity, however, must also be a month-long ethical and political siren alerting public attention to every month of every year. In FGS, we encourage the York University community to take up the imperative of Black History Month: discover, research, re-member, communicate, interrupt, challenge, then correct in every discipline and medium. Over centuries as a function of racialized and colonizing power dynamics, Black histories have been silenced, dismissed or appropriated and renamed.”
The panel discussion will continue the “Why Black History (Month) Matters” conversation FGS hosted last year. Speakers include Michele A. Johnson, associate dean of Students and professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies; Muna-Udbi Abdulkadir Ali, assistant professor at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change; Emmanuel Frimpong, York University PhD candidate in political science; Océane Nyela, York University PhD candidate in communication and culture; and Rossini Sandjong, York University master’s student in public and international affairs.
“Our wide-ranging conversation with graduate students and professors will question why and how Black History (Month) Matters to knowledge as such and individuals’ personal scholarly journeys,” adds Loebel.
This is a free, virtual event open to all York community members. For more information and to register, click here.