Developed by the Open University in partnership with Santander Universities UK, Union Black: Britain’s Black Cultures and Steps to Anti-Racism is a free online course that provides insights into Black British history and an understanding of the cultures and experiences of Black people. It aims to dispel myths so as to inform, challenge, and contribute to the anti-racism agenda.

We are making the Union Black course available to staff and students as part of broader and ongoing efforts at Imperial to raise awareness of race inequalities and to promote anti-racism. Recent work in applying for a Race Equality Charter mark and in examining the College’s history has highlighted the value of encouraging dialogue and reflection on the issues of ethnicity and belonging.

The full Union Black programme is a nine hour course, however there is also a one hour overview available. You can enrol at any time.

The Open University have provided these instructions on how to sign up to Union Black.

What is Union Black?

The Union Black course was developed in response to Universities UK’s Tackling Racial Harassment in Higher Education report.

Hosted on FutureLearn, the course is delivered through a mixture of videos, reading materials, and discussion forums, and can be taken at the learner’s own pace. All told, it should take about six hours to complete. There is no assessment element; instead, participants are encouraged to reflect on their own attitudes and values.