Dr. Afua Cooper
Profile
Email: afua.cooper@dal.ca
Afua Cooper is a senior academic trained in the history of Black people in Canada, and the African Diaspora. Her indomitable research on slavery, abolition, freedom, Black education, and women studies across Canada has made her one of the leading figures in African Canadian studies. She currently teaches in the History Dept. Dalhousie, with cross-appointments in Sociology and Social Anthropology ad Gender and Women’s Studies.
Her book on Canadian slavery, The Hanging of Angelique: The Untold Story of Slavery in Canada and the Burning of Old Montreal broke new ground in the study of Canadian and Atlantic slavery. Angelique was nominated for a Governor-General’s award, and was named by the CBC as one of the best books published in Canada. Her co-authored publication We’re Rooted Here and they can’t pull us up: Essays in African Canadian Women’s History helped centre the study of Black women’s history in Canada. Her commitment to social justice education has resulted in her curating five exhibits on Black history, slavery, and freedom. Dr. Cooper also led the “Universities Studying Slavery” initiative at Dalhousie University, and was the lead author of the subsequent report Lord Dalhousie’s History on Slavery and Race. These efforts make Dalhousie University the first institution of higher learning in Canada to examine its links with race, slavery, and anti-Blackness.
An academic leader, Afua founded the Black Canadian Studies Association and the Dalhousie Black Faculty and Staff Caucus. She also established the Black and African Diaspora Studies Minor at Dalhousie.
In recognition of her contributions to the cultural arts in Nova Scotia, in November 2020, Dr. Cooper was Award the Portia White Prize. Moreover, she served as Halifax’s 7th Poet Laureate, (2018-2020). A recognized poet, spoken word artist, and wordsmaestra, Afua helped found the Dub Poetry movement in Canada, and popularized Dub Poetry around the world. She has published six books of poetry, including the critically acclaimed Copper Woman and Other Poems, and her most recent is Black Matters: Poetry and Photography in Dialogue, a collaboration with German multidisciplinary scholar and artist, Wilfried Raussert.
Other awards and achievements include: the Ontario Black History Society, Daniel G. Hill Community Service Award (2019); Canadian Trailblazers Award, Historica Canada Recognition (2017); a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Scholar of Honour feature (2017); Honouree: Hanging of Angelique named as one of the "Best Canadian Books Published,” CBC (2016); Honouree:100 Accomplished Black Women, Ryerson University (2016); Nova Scotia Human Rights Award (2015); and The Planet Africa Renaissance Award (2007).
The impulse behind the work of this multi-disciplinary scholar/artist is democratic. She aims to bridge the gap between academe and the world at large.