Goldsmiths University accused of ‘quietly killing off’ queer and black history degrees

Goldsmiths University has been accused of committing “cultural vandalism” by “quietly killing” off its master’s degree programmes in both queer and black history.

The allegations came to light when Dr Justin Bengry, the course director of Queer History, revealed that he had been made redundant – less than three weeks after the UK celebrated Pride Month.

“Goldsmiths has decided to terminate my employment as part of a devastating restructure,” Dr Bengry wrote last Thursday (11 July) on X/Twitter.

“With no specialist staff, this means the closure of the MA Queer History, the world’s only MA degree of its kind. This is an affront to my students, colleagues, and community. It is vandalism.”

The MA in Queer History boasts of being of huge cultural importance, “giving a voice to those who throughout much of history have been denied one”, while its MA in Black History is similarly advertised as occupying a unique historical place which “has been at the margins of academia for too long”.

Both degrees are described as being the first of their kind and bolster Goldsmith’s reputation as a progressive institution.

While Goldsmiths said both courses will in fact continue after being subject to “difficult decisions” following a recent review, Dr Bengry told The Independent that this has effectively ended his course, explaining: “The MA Queer History cannot run without qualified staff.

“Already last month Goldsmiths failed to renew the contract of a second lecturer in queer history who was critical to the successful delivery of the programme.”

Dr Bengry added: “This seriously undermined our capacity to offer a good degree at Goldsmiths. It is, of course, possible to offer a compromised degree with fewer staff, but it is impossible to offer that degree with no staff.

“With my redundancy, there will be no History staff with sufficient training, teaching, or research experience in queer history to continue the MA Queer History.

“My colleagues in History are excellent scholars in their own fields, but, simply put, no one remaining in the History department has sufficient knowledge of the field to offer even a single module let alone a credible degree in queer history.”

A representative said the institution is “committed” to delivering the MA in Queer History but said they have had to “make difficult decisions to navigate unprecedented financial challenges.”

Dr Bengry’s post struck a chord and has been viewed by over 1.5m people over the past week, many of whom took the opportunity to express their outrage.

One person wrote: “I am so sorry to hear this. Absolutely devastated to hear about the closure of such a trailblazing programme.”

Meanwhile, a Change.org petition was also created to save the MA in Black History.

It reads: “We, as students of Goldsmith’s MA Black British History (past and present), are writing to express our outrage and deep concern regarding the proposed redundancy of the convenor of the MA, Dr Kesewa John.

“Launched in 2020, the MA has been commended for its contribution to [British] Higher Education, as the first and only course of its kind.”

The petition added: “The loss of this course would be devastating, not just for its associated staff and students, but for every Black British person who has been denied the right to know and appreciate their own history.

“We, of course, must not forget the importance of knowing these lesser-known elements of British history for everybody.”

The petition’s creator, Holly Cooper, who was on the first cohort of the MA in 2020, told The Independent that those affected by financial cuts at Goldsmiths were disproportionately from minority groups.

They explained that while there have been cuts before, in this instance, no alternative routes were presented to the affected staff.

“Overwhelmingly, the staff sent these letters of proposed redundancy are BAME, LGBT+, women, and disabled members of staff,” they said.

“No potential solutions have been offered to staff to keep their jobs. This is unlike last time [when] staff were able to reapply for their jobs.”

Cooper also claimed that “many other courses” are affected by the cutbacks, including the MA in Black British Literature.

“They have sent the convenors of these courses letters of proposed redundancy, which will be ratified on the 5th,” Cooper explained.

“Goldsmiths SMT know these courses cannot run without specialised course convenors, so they are quietly killing them.”

At the time of writing, the petition to save the MA in Black History has been signed by over 1,700 people.

Dr Kesewa told The Independent: “The proposal to delete my post left me stunned.

“I’m a new member of staff at Goldsmiths, I was appointed last summer amid a hiring freeze because, I was told, this area of study was a strategic priority for the university.

“I was tasked upon arrival with building an infrastructure to support the MA - including a new BA programme (History with Black Studies - working title) which I designed from scratch.

“Although a small team, the historians teaching Black British history at Goldsmiths are a financially sustainable unit and are successful at sourcing alternative sources of funding.”

Dr Kesewa added: “As the only Black Lecturer in the history department, this September, ten years on, another group of students will be right to once again pose the question ‘Why isn’t my Professor Black?’”

This is not the first time that the courses have been under threat, as Cooper explained, and in 2022, both the queer and black history master’s degrees were at risk.

Staff told PinkNews that while the university has claimed to be committed to the subjects, they are not viable without specialist staff, especially at the MA level.

Dr Kate Davison, who faced redundancy just weeks into her job at the college, said: “It seems to me that Goldsmiths management is very interested in continuing its profile as a progressive and possibly even a radical college with these areas of research and these areas of teaching – queer history, Black British history, Black British literature.

“But I have to honestly say, all the evidence that I’ve seen so far points to this being a very cynical use of these areas of teaching to promote an image of the college that in my observation so far doesn’t match what’s going on on the ground.”

A spokesperson for Goldsmiths added to The Independent: “At this provisional stage of the consultation, both programmes successfully completed the programme review we conducted and will feature as part of our academic offer.”