University of Exeter celebrates and reflects on Black History Month with series of talks, plays and exhibitions

The University of Exeter is a diverse community across Devon and Cornwall with students and staff from over 130 countries.

October is Black History Month and the University is celebrating and reflecting on black history with a series of talks, plays and exhibitions that illustrate Maya Angelou’s words: “In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

Throughout the month students, staff and members of the wider community (see individual events) can attend a range of talks from Black Histories in the South West to Identity and Belonging in Brexit Britain; a range of plays from Black Men Walking at the Northcott Theatre to 2000 Stories by Beyond Face in Penryn; and a range of exhibitions from a Black British Cinema Exhibit at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum to a showcase of Black History and Windrush Collections in the University Library.

This summer, the University of Exeter library acquired an extensive Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice digital archive - the first university in Europe to acquire these collections in their entirety. The archives contain primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, covering an extensive time period: 1490 to 2007 including the legacy of slavery, the social-justice perspective and t he continued existence of slavery today.

This year’s Black History Month campaign also takes an intersectional approach, looking at black people’s experiences of disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and mental health.

The full range of events and booking options can be found on the university website: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/staff/equality/inclusioncalendar/blackhistorymonth/