About

The Centre for Black Studies in Education (CBSE) in the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, was established on January 1, 2022.  The CBSE exists primarily to harness the knowledge of Black scholars and address anti-blackness & inequities that impact Black people in all aspects of Canadian life including education.

The Centre for Black Studies in Education is also designed to:

1. Foster, strengthen, and value the Black studies research and pedagogical practices in education.
2. Provide for the production and advancement of Black scholarship in the areas of research and pedagogy, curriculum development.
3. Serve as a safe, accessible, and inclusive space for OISE Black professors and students; offers space for critical dialogue surrounding issues of race, racism, African Indigeneity, decolonization & more.
4. Facilitate collaboration with research programs, faculty members in other departments & community organizations to promote critical Black studies research and pedagogy.
5. Provide leadership and training on issues of anti-Black racism and equity training to influence issues of equity.

The Centre embraces a robust framework of education; teaching-learning in formal educational settings & non-formal settings, work/labour organizations, and community-based settings; and supports the theorization of  practices grounded in African Indigenous, Afro-Caribbean, and Black Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing.

OISE, U of T and the wider community offers a dynamic and intellectual space to engage in critical conversations and about Black Studies research/learning - not limited to the narratives, varying experiences and histories (heterogeneity) of Blackness in Canada, Continental Africa and the global Black diaspora.

The CBSE is located in Room 225 on the second floor of the OISE Building. Among some of the activities of the centre offers are scholarly paper development training and writing groups, seminars, guest lectures and an annual conference. In the future, we intend to develop a Journal of Black Studies in Education.