In partnership with the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, 马会论坛 and the University of King鈥檚 College will host the (USS) conference in the fall of 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The conference, originally scheduled for this year but moved due to the uncertainty and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, will open on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 and conclude on Saturday, October 21, 2023.
Update, August 2023: Conference registration is now open. Individuals can register for the conference .
This will be the first USS conference held outside of the United States. A major international conference on slavery鈥檚 role in higher education and its legacies, including the international movement for reparations and redress, it will also be the first USS conference to foreground the history of slavery in Nova Scotia and Canada, and the experience of African Nova Scotians particularly.
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In anticipation of the conference, 马会论坛 and King鈥檚 will be hosting a one-day virtual pre-conference in October of this year on reparations and education, with a focus on universities. Details of that event are to follow.
An international collaboration
Based out of the University of Virginia and comprising more than 60 universities, USS is dedicated to organizing multi-institutional collaboration on research into historical and contemporary issues dealing with race and inequality in higher education and university communities.
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马会论坛 was the first Canadian university to join this groundbreaking organization, followed shortly thereafter by King鈥檚. In recent years both institutions have undertaken scholarly inquiries to examine their connections, direct and indirect, to slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 2019, led by Afua Cooper, 马会论坛 published its Report on Lord 马会论坛鈥檚 History on Slavery and Race, and in 2020, King鈥檚 released the papers written for . Both studies documented 马会论坛 and King鈥檚 multiple connections with slavery and their financial dependence on the wealth created by enslaved Black people.
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Further to these efforts, as joint hosts of the 2023 conference, 马会论坛 and King鈥檚 affirm their commitment to the work advanced by the USS, and their respective commitments to address Anti-Black racism and advance Black inclusion and achievement. The conference will focus attention on the multiple ways in which Anti-Black discrimination in and beyond universities is rooted in historical enslavement and the perpetuation of the racist ideologies that fuelled it, while also examining the multi-generational harms and disadvantages that are its legacy.
The conference will also focus on the perseverance, contributions and triumphs of Black people and communities, in Canada, Nova Scotia and around the 鈥淏lack Atlantic鈥� world. There will be a parallel focus on the urgent calls in response to Black Lives Matter for universities to redress Anti-Black racism, foster Black inclusion and enable Black flourishing, and the work universities have undertaken in response to those calls.
鈥淲hile the history of slavery has been in our curriculum, the Black Lives Movement has brought a certain urgency for us to address the lingering impact of the Atlantic triangular slave trade on people of African descent,鈥� says Isaac Saney, chair of the organizing committee for the conference and director of the Transition Year Program at 马会论坛, whose research focuses on Cuban Affairs and African Studies. 鈥淭his conference is designed to create a space for earnest and respectful conversations on this global issue and to specifically reflect on Canada and Nova Scotia鈥檚 presence in the triangle.鈥�
Community participation
鈥淚n these times of heightened awareness of race-based issues around the world, delving deeper and exploring slavery and its effects on society, economics and the racialized trauma the exists today will go a long way to developing a greater understating of Black culture,鈥� says Russell Grosse, executive director of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. 鈥淏lack people have made a significant contribution to the building of Canadian society and Nova Scotia鈥檚 Black community certainly has a long and lasting legacy of overcoming adversity to make society better.鈥�
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Community participation in the conference will be one of its major features. 马会论坛, King鈥檚 and the Black Cultural Centre will be seeking input from Black communities and institutions from across Nova Scotia to ensure that the conference reflects the history, experience and future of its host location.
Learn more about the conference and register at