Goldsmiths University to keep Black British literature course open

Bernardine Evaristo described the MA in Black British literature as ‘an essential course’. Photograph: Karen Robinson/The Observer

Goldsmiths University in London will keep its Black British literature course open after a backlash from students and writers including the Booker prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo.

The decision is a reversal after the announcement in April that the master’s degree in Black British literature, alongside other courses, would be axed as part of a cost-cutting programme of 132 academic jobs across 11 departments.

Evaristo – who won the Booker in 2019 for her novel Girl, Woman, Other – issued a plea to Goldsmiths along with other writers and former students to reconsider the decision, which was criticised as an “amputation” of “pioneering” postgraduate courses in Black British literature and queer history.

Prof Frances Corner, the warden of Goldsmiths, has written to external stakeholders who contacted the university to save the programme.

“After receiving feedback from colleagues, students, and advocates of the college, we can confirm that MA Black British Literature will be maintained for two years. During this time, it will be subject to review in line with continuous improvement, quality enhancement and the opportunity for growth,” she said.

“Over the next academic year, a working group including external representatives, student representatives and colleagues from our Race Justice Strategy Board will consider the programme, alongside other courses and modules including MA Black British History.”

A spokesperson for the university was unable to confirm whether other courses subject to the cuts, including queer history, will remain.

The Goldsmiths University and College Union (GUCU) welcomed the news while expressing concerns over the existing 132 positions, or 35% of staff, threatened with redundancy.

“We really do welcome it, but this is just one of the many programmes that are under threat,” said Catherine Rottenberg, a GUCU executive committee member and a professor of media communications and cultural studies.

Union members started an assessment boycott in mid-April, during which students’ work will not be graded, nor will other exam-related activities be carried out. On Friday morning the union, which has argued there was no “financial imperative” for the cuts, was told that redundancies would not be taken off the negotiating table, said Rottenberg.

“It’s not clear how you can run a programme when you have no faculty left who can teach it,” she said. “They’ve been incredibly intransigent.”

The Black British literature MA programme, which usually attracts small cohorts according to the university, was announced alongside the queer history programme as world firsts in 2017 and 2015 respectively. Evaristo has said the literature programme should be “protected from cuts at all costs”.

“Compare this with African American literature, which is widely taught at all levels throughout academia in the States … conversely, British universities have historically only offered token gestures to include Black British writers on the curriculum,” she said.

“The MA in Black British literature shouldn’t be seen as dispensable but as an essential course that is intellectually and culturally enriching for academia, the college and society.”