Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States 111
collaborative research projects. This progression from individual research
to collaborative efforts involving many people from different disciplines is
a natural one. A typical first book or major publication is usually a revised
dissertation. Now that many Black scholars are working on second and
third books and, most importantly, have acquired tenure, they are eager to
develop collaborative Studies. This impulse should be encouraged, as it
bodes well for the development of Black Studies as a discipline.
In the early years, Black Studies units justified their intellectual existence
on the grounds that they shattered the confining and restrictive
boundaries of traditional disciplines. Actually, as far as I have been able to
discern, most of the individual scholars in these programs and departments
have published works that are very much in keeping with the methodological
canons of the disciplines in which they were formally trained. It was
naive and unrealistic to expect the young historian or sociologist of the
Afro-American experience to retool, master a new, still inadequately defined
Afrocentric methodology, and then prepare publishable manuscripts
and win tenure—all within a six-year period.
In sum, I am optimistic about the future of Black Studies because of
the energy, creativity, industry, and achievements of Black scholars. The
dream that Black Studies can be in the forefront of interdisciplinary research
and writing deserves all available nourishment. The contemporary Black
Studies movement will be considerably enhanced and sustained by serious