The Pan-African Initiative for Research (PAIR) is a groundbreaking initiative at the University of Waterloo dedicated to collaborative, community-rooted, and globally engaged research across Pan-African spaces — including Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the global Black diaspora.
Led by Black Pan-African scholars, PAIR centres African and Afro-diasporic knowledge systems, histories, and futures. PAIR builds reciprocal partnerships with local and global communities, ensuring research is conducted with communities, not on them. PAIR welcomes non-African and non-Black researchers engaged in Pan-African work, fostering an inclusive and interdisciplinary research community.
Research with Purpose
Our work advances Pan‑African and Afro‑diasporic scholarship that addresses pressing global challenges.
News
Exploring Black Barbadian Migration to Canada
On February 15, Season 8, Episode 1 of the Dis A Fi Mi History Podcast launches with a powerful conversation on Caribbean migration, identity, and belonging. This episode features Dr. Christopher Stuart-Taylor.
Waterloo Launches PAIR
The University of Waterloo launches the Pan African Initiative for Research (PAIR), a new interdisciplinary research initiative designed to advance collaborative, community rooted, and globally engaged scholarship across Pan African contexts, including Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Afro-diasporic communities worldwide.
Events
Black History Month Annual Liberation Dialogues
This year’s lecture will be delivered by Dr. Barbra Reynolds - member and former Chair of the UN Working Group on People of African Descent (WGEPAD).
Afrofuturism Film Screening
In this edition of Fridays After 5, a recurring series created by the Lanterna Black Innovation Hub (LBIH) in partnership with the Office of EDI-R, we will gather for conversation, music, and joy shared over delicious food, followed by a film screening of the first episodes of the acclaimed series I'm A Virgo.
Photo credit: imdb.com
Black Intellectual Life in the Post-EDI University
Wilfrid Laurier's Office of the Associate Vice-President: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is pleased to invite you to "Black Intellectual Life in the Post-EDI University," our second installment of the Lamine Diallo EDI Speaker Series for 2025-2026.