About
The site was developed in collaboration with students in the Arts’ Black Student Advisory and Dr. Mélanie Knight, Advisor to the Dean of Arts on Blackness and Black Diasporic Education.
Students in the Advisory bring their unique experiences to the space, grapple with issues impacting Black students, find solutions, create and implement new initiatives with the goal of supporting Black students, while always upholding the importance of the Black experience on campus.
Students in Arts face unique career pathway challenges. The advisory consults with various stakeholders and helps inform career and co-op opportunities, curriculum, and support services by ensuring that the perspectives and experiences of Black-identified students in the Faculty of Arts are considered and incorporated throughout.
The Advisory
Our Ongoing Work
The Black Studies minor is one of few in the country!
- Advocate for more Black-focused curricula content across the University
- Impart the importance of recognizing the diversity of Black life in curriculum
- Share knowledge, experiences and challenges with the existing curriculum in order to support progressive changes
- Advocate for the hiring of more Black faculty
- Helped with the creation of a website with resources important to Black-identified students on campus
Advocate for more access and understanding of co-op and employment opportunities for Black-identified students with Arts backgrounds.
Met with Sunny Chan (Co-op Program Specialist, Arts (All Programs) to discuss ways to better promote co-op to Black students in Arts and also ensure access to equity-minded employers
Consulted with Laura MacKinnon (Career Education Specialist — Arts) and others about the Race Forward program and other opportunities.
Also sought the support of Bianca Marryshow, a Sociology alum who provided guidance on how to help Black-identified students transition to full-time careers. Bianca has been instrumental in helping the advisory understand the gaps that currently exist for Arts students and ways to improve.
- Provided feedback on the information available to students on the site
- Advocated for additional inclusive sections in order to represent the diversity of Black communities
- In order to help inform ABR training, the Advisory consulted with stakeholders in order to communicate the varied experiences and needs of Black-identified students in Arts
- Informed stakeholders of the issues which were most impactful to Black students on campus and should be prioritized when developing initiatives or when providing academic advising
- This feedback was relayed to an ABR consultant and helped with the creation of anti-Black racism training for staff in Arts
- Instrumental in providing information necessary for the hiring of a Black Mentor in the Arts Faculty to support Black-identified students (in progress)
Arts Advisory in the News
Fatmata Bangura, a member of the advisory, participated in the panel discussion “Intersections of Injustice: Anti-Black racism and Islamaphobia”. For more information on events, visit the Muslim Community Network website.
MacKenna Whitley, a member of the advisory, participated in the panel discussion led by Indigenous and Black students responding to recent calls for the removal of a statue and the renaming of a university. For more information on collaborations, visti the Saagajiwe website.
