Oxford University introduces compulsory exam on Black, Asian and ethnic minority history after protests against ‘white curriculum’
History students will study the 1960s civil rights movement and Indian independence during their three-year undergraduate degree
HISTORY students at Oxford University will be made to sit a new exam focusing on black, Asian and ethnic minority history, as the institution finally caves to complaints of an overly "white" curriculum.
The compulsory exam will assess students on the lives of world leaders and influential public figures such as Martin Luther King, Malcon X and Mahatma Gandhi.
As part of their three-year degree, undergraduates will have to take a paper that does not cover British or European topics.
The new paper will include topics such as the 1960s civil rights movement and Indian independence, as well as Middle Eastern events.
It will be formally introduced in the next academic term and will run alongside two compulsory papers on British history.
most popular
The move comes as student protests emerged across the country under the campaign "Why is my curriculum white?"
The top ranking UK university has come under fire in recent years for not accepting enough black students, despite an increased number of applicants.
Last year controversy surrounded Oxford's Oriel College, which is home to a statue of Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes.
Students in universities across the UK and South Africa demanded the statue of the "racist colonialist" be removed as part of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
But Oriel College refused to take down the statue.
A spokesman for Oxford University said there was "no link" between the Rhodes Must Fall campaign and the updated curriculum, claiming the change was four years in the making, reports .
In a statement, the university’s History Faculty said the department “regularly reviews and updates its course curriculum to reflect the latest developments in the subject.
“After a number of years of discussion and consultation among ourselves and with students, we have decided to make a number of changes to the curriculum.
“Among these is a requirement that students study one paper (from a wide range of such options) in non-British and non-European history, alongside two papers of British History and two papers of European History.”
In total, students take eleven papers during their history degree, and many choose to take at least one of non-European or British history.
“We are pleased to be modernising and diversifying our curriculum in this way,” the department said.