Prominent scholar and art historian joins the University of Mass Amherst to teach Black Diasporic Art and Visual Culture

BY PAUL JUNOR

It was an unexpected announcement when it was revealed on Wednesday, August 31^st, 2022, that prominent scholar, art historian, education, and educator Dr Charmaine Nelson would be leaving the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NASCAD) University in Halifax, Canada. It was on June 17^th, 2020, that it was announced by NASCAD that she was appointed as the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Transatlantic Black Diasporic Art and Community Engagement at NSCAD. This was the first year of an expected seven-year term. On the same day, the University of Massachusetts Amherst (U Mass Amherst) announced that she would be joining the History of Art and Architecture Department.

She is the founding Director of the first-ever Institute for the Study of Canadian History. This Institute focuses on the 200-year history of the Canadian participation in Transatlantic Slavery. Dr Nelson’s primary area of research includes: postcolonial and black feminist scholarships, transatlantic slavery studies, and Black diasporic studies.

Descriptions of Nelson’s outstanding contributions and accomplishments are documented on the website: blackcanadianart.ca. At Concordia University she earned a History degree and a Master’s degree. She worked on a Ph.D. program at Queen’s University during 1996-1997 but left to finish it in Art History at the University of Manchester between 1998 -2001. Her thesis focused on Race and Representation.

Another amazing achievement is that she is the first Black person to be an Art History Professor at the University of Western Ontario in 2001. In my interview with Nelson on Thursday, September 8^th, 2022, she shared details about her time at this institution and the many challenges that she faced. She was appointed to be a professor of art history at McGill in 2003 and remained there until 2020. It was during that time that she completed four books.

She faced further challenges at McGill, but was able to do powerfully significant work which challenged the narratives in Western art history with its reliance on music and culture as the source of primary archival documentation. She continues her prolific academic work and critical scholarships to document slavery in Canada.

Nelson plans to expand the mandate of the Institute for the Study of Canadian Slavery by engaging in ground breaking research and on-going exploration into areas of slavery.

She told me that the research centre hub has been renamed Slavery North and it will focus on the study of slavery in the American north as well as in Canada.

In a press release U Mass Amherst states, “As the Slavery North Initiative, expanding the focus to include both Canada and the American North. Slavery North will continue to host research and cultural events and support and promote the research of scholars and artists-in-residence in these understudied and often neglected histories.”

Professor Nelson is excited about this appointment. “I am thrilled to be joining the accomplished and dedicated faculty and staff in the History of Art and Architecture Department, and equally excited to meet colleagues from across the campus and regions. I know that I will be energized by the talented students and draw inspiration from what we will learn together.”

She draws strength from her husband and supportive parents who have been committed to her success and well-being. She maintains a proper work-life balance daily.