Research summary
Black studies is an emerging academic field in Canada. It examines the histories, cultures and experiences of people of African descent in the Americas through cultural studies, history literature and music. As Canada Research Chair in Black Studies, Dr. Katherine McKittrick is analyzing the interdisciplinary nature of this field and its emerging ecological and aesthetic themes.
Decoloniality is a way to relearn knowledge that has been dismissed, forgotten, buried or discredited by the forces of settler-colonialism and racial capitalism. By looking at interdisciplinarity as a decolonial philosophy and methodology, McKittrick aims to remove self-identity as a focus and instead emphasize collaborative, creative knowledge-making as entwined with physical geography. Specifically, she and her research team are studying the racial dimensions of the climate catastrophe in black communities. Ultimately, their work will offer an original framework for understanding black aesthetics and narratives as entangled with antiracism, ecology and sustainable development.