The Harriet Tubman Institute
The Harriet Tubman Institute (HTI) seeks to be the preeminent, interdisciplinary centre for research, both historical and contemporary, on Africa and its global diasporas. Our mandate encompasses the study of pre-contact cultures and histories of Africa, histories of slavery and colonialism. It focuses on the struggles in current lives of African peoples and diasporic communities to achieve social justice and covers contemporary forms of exploitation.
The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa & its Diasporas
The Harriet Tubman Institute seeks to be the preeminent, interdisciplinary centre for research, both historical and contemporary, on Africa and its global diasporas. Our mandate encompasses the study of pre-contact cultures and histories of Africa, histories of slavery and colonialism. It focuses on the struggles in current lives of African peoples and diasporic communities to achieve social justice and covers contemporary forms of exploitation.
The Institute offers York University and the broader community an internationally recognized hub for studies and documentation on Africa and its Diasporas. In pursuing its mandate, the Institute fosters debates among scholars, engages with the community, and informs public policy. It is committed to equity and social justice.
Being located in the francophone minority context in Toronto, which has become the home of a growing number of Black francophone peoples, the Institute aligns with York University's White Paper, which highlights Anglophone and Francophone bilingualism.
The HTI Research Agenda is available here.
Director's vision
Director
Professor Omosalewa Olawoye
As an African-Born woman of colour, feminist, Economist, I bring a wealth of diversity to my role as the Director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas. My interdisciplinary research spans across issues that affect Africans in Africa and people of African descent in the diasporas. Building up on the legacy of my predecessors at the institute, my goal is to work closely with academics within and outside the York community and Black communities to study and understand the experiences of African people and African-descended people to promote equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice. The overall goal is to promote discussions and policies that address anti-Black racism and encourage freedom for all people, not just some people. The journey to true equity and freedom is one that we cannot give up on. As Harriet Tubman once said, “If you hear the dogs, keep going, if you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” In the face of many oppositions to true justice and freedom, my goal is to encourage discourse and research that encourages Africans and people of African descent in the diaspora to keep going till positive changes occur and true freedom is achieved.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world.”
― Harriet Tubman
People
Affiliating with HTI
Research Associates
A graduate or undergraduate student enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis at York University who has a demonstrated interest in the research agenda and/or activities of the Institute, who has requested to the Director to be a Research Associate, and whose request has been accepted in writing by the Director.
Click here to apply as a Graduate Research Associate or an Undergraduate Research Associate.
Fellows
We have three categories of fellows:
Faculty Fellow: A full or part-time faculty member at York University who has a demonstrated interest in the research agenda and/or activities of the Institute and who has requested to the Director to be a Faculty Fellow, and whose request has been accepted in writing by the Director.
Associate Fellow: A scholar from outside of York University who has a demonstrated interest in the research agenda and/or activities of the Institute and who has requested to the Director to be an Associate Fellow, and whose request has been accepted in writing by the Director.
Postdoctoral Fellow: A postdoctoral researcher who has a demonstrated interest in the research agenda and/or activities of the Institute and who has requested to the Director to be a Postdoctoral Fellow, and whose request has been accepted in writing by the Director.
Click here to apply as a Fellow of the Harriet Tubman Institute.
Please direct questions to tubman@yorku.ca.
Projects
Ongoing projects and initiatives directed by HTI members
Boko Haram
- Principal Investigator: Paul Lovejoy
- Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- This project focuses Islamic extremism
Contemporary Transnational Formations: Exploring Integration and Identity among Second-Generation Ethiopian Youth in Canada
- Principal Investigator: Mary Goitom
- Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Freedom Narratives
- Principal Investigator: Paul Lovejoy
- Grant period: 2018–23
- Funders: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; Mellon Foundation
- This project focuses on peoples born in West Africa
- Project Website
Gendered Analysis of COVID-19: Voices of African immigrants in Edmonton and Toronto
- Principal Investigator: Gertrude Mianda
- Co-investigator: Elaine Coburn
- Funders: Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation; York-TD Community Engagement Centre
Promoting the Mental Health of Students in Black Communities in Canada: A Pan-Canadian Research and Intervention Project on Social Determinants of Health and Equity in Universities
- Principal Investigator: Agnès Berthelot-Raffard
- Funder: The Public Health Agency of Canada
- Access our Project Archive
Funding
View York University's Selected Funding Opportunities here.
Call for the HTI Seed Fund
The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas (HTI) invites applications from HTI members at York University for the HTI Seed Grant. Faculty (full and part-time) and graduate students who are HTI members by the application deadline are eligible to apply. Applications will be accepted in English or French. The HTI Seed Grant is made possible thanks to the generous support of Indigenous, Black, and EDI scholarship at York University.
The HTI Seed Grant was created to support the scholarly work and research of the HTI members that is related to Black people on the continent and in the Diaspora, including in Canada. Funded projects and initiatives will fit within HTI’s research agenda.
The HTI is now accepting applications for the following activities:
- Research projects (standalone or part of a broader research program) directed by York faculty members
- Community engagement initiatives
- Knowledge mobilization initiatives
- Graduate student field research (both domestic and international students registered at York are eligible)
The number of funded applications will depend on submissions and will be judged in part based on the accuracy of the budget submitted with the application. Applicants can request up to $5,000; exceptional applications may receive additional funding. Expenses should be appropriate to the proposal and only direct project costs are eligible. In reviewing budgets, the adjudication committee will defer York University’s guidelines for fund 400 expenses. Applicants who are applying to complete ongoing research that is currently funded are required to show proposed or requested or confirmed cash or in-kind support from other sources for their application to be considered.
The deadline for applications is Monday, 17 January 2022. Recipients will be notified before 01 March 2022.
Please also note:
- The funding is available for a 24-month period and recipients are expected to complete funded activities by 31 March 2024.
- Applicants will be subject to all human ethics requirements: https://www.yorku.ca/research/research-ethics/. Please include planning for ethics approval into your timeline where applicable.
- Each recipient will be required to provide HTI with a one-page report on activities, scholarly and community outputs, and plans future research by 15 April 2023.
- An HTI sub-committee will adjudicate applications.
The application form and more information is available here. Please direct questions to tubman@yorku.ca.
Collections2
HTI Journal of African and African Diasporic Studies/ La revue des études sur l'Afrique et la diaspora africaine
An official journal of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas, the HTI Journal of African and African Diasporic Studies (JAADS) is an international, peer-reviewed, and bilingual journal that publishes research that advances our understanding of African people and African-descended people across the diaspora. // La revue officielle de l’Institut Harriet Tubman pour la recherche sur l’Afrique et ses diasporas. La revue des études sur l'Afrique et la diaspora africaine (READA) est une revue internationale bilingue avec comité de lecture qui publie des recherches qui font progresser notre compréhension des peuples africains et des personnes d’origine africaine à travers la diaspora.
The Harriet Tubman Institute - Publications by Affiliated Members
HTI Member Publications