Universities are incredibly diverse places and Queen’s University Belfast has, for example, 75 nationalities represented among its staff, and as many among students. According to the Race Equality Survey in 2014, undertaken by the group Black British Academics, 56% reported discrimination, while almost three quarters said they would rate their institutions’ performance on race equality as “poor” or “very poor”. In 2018, QUB Students’ Union held its first ever Black History Month, highlighting the issue of race and discrimination among the student body. There is a growing movement of academics and students who debate how to ‘decolonise’ a white curriculum and how to make colleges – inside and out – less racist.

We will also screen the award-winning film Sincerely, the Black Kids (Dir. Miles Iton, 35 min, USA), a documentary about racism on white American campuses. It focuses on students of colour who are in positions of leadership. The film was produced and directed by Miles Iton, a black student and former student body president at New College of Florida and will be presented at the Sundance Festival 2019.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with Conor Curran, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Queen’s University; Dr Satish Kumar, Lecturer in Geography at Queen’s University, and Hamsavani Rajeswaren, Officer Equality & Diversity, QUB Students’ Union, with an open floor debate.

Screening as part of Imagine! Festival of Ideas & Politics.

EVENT DURATION: 2 HRS