As part of the National Black History Month programme in October 2020, the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS) and the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) joined forces to deliver a series of free ‘Lunchtime Talks’ to our Doctoral communities celebrating the history, achievements and contributions of black and minority ethic people from across and beyond Scotland.
Every week in October, we heard from a variety of insightful speakers and had close to 400 attendees overall tuning in to hear them, including members of the general public.
You can watch the recordings of the sessions on our YouTube channel here.
The event programme was as follows:
Week One – Watch Recording
- Dr Gameli Tordzro: Changing the Trajectory of Our Shared Histories’; Artistic Interaction and Embracing Us
- Prof Corinne Fowler: Colonial Countryside: Child-Led Interpretation of British Country Houses’ Connections to Empire
Week Two – Watch Recording
- Prof Nasar Meer: W.E.B. Du Bois, social science and ‘double consciousness’
- Prof Brian Stanley and Agana-Nsiire Agana: John Gatu: From Mau Mau to New College
Week Three – Watch Recording
Series of short lightning talks from our PhD community:
- Charlotte James Robertson: “Lives Free of Fear of Any Kind”: The Establishment of Specialist BME Women’s Refuges in Britain, (1979-1989)
- Rebecca Brew: The Black Professional Woman and Imposter Syndrome
- Tharita Intanam: Black Body as A Site of History in Post-1960s African American Literature
Week Four – Watch Recording
- Lisa Williams: The Caribbean presence in Edinburgh in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
- Dr Christine Whyte & Dr Richard Anderson Charles Heddle: An Afro-Scottish trader and the abolition of the slave trade in Sierra Leone
- Batanayi I. Manyika and Dr. Modisa Mzondi: Complexities of Black Identity: Theological Reflections from the Diaspora and the Continent. – Watch Recording.
SGSAH and SGSSS were delighted to read so much positive feedback and words of appreciation for our speakers. Here’s what some attendees had to say:
“Amazing to see the way academics are engaging the public in these colonial histories and making them real to people in their everyday lives”
“So many fascinating facts not taught in general history”
“Don’t want this to end. This was so great!”
“Thank you – so many provocative thoughts”
“Really inspiring presentations!”
