Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

130 Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States
presented as suggesting new directions for the university of the future. It is
often lifted up, for example, as a model for new programs in such fields as
Women’s Studies, Ethnic Studies, American Studies, and even in such distant
fields as Medieval Studies. The present round of Ford grants to African
American Studies has helped immeasurably in this time of self-scrutiny
and new direction.
To cite but a few examples of Ford’s impact on these processes of redefinition
and growth: At Yale, Ford money has helped to establish a film collection
in African American Studies that expands the department’s definition as
a site of significant pedagogical and research possibilities in visual culture. At
Indiana,Ford funds enabled faculty to develop an archive of African American
Music, History, and Culture that would complement the holdings of the Film
Center Archive and enhance the departmental emphasis on African American
cultural life. And at Berkeley, Ford funds have been used to encourage collaborative
projects between faculty members and graduate students that would
enable participants to explore the interdisciplinary implications of their joint
projects.Very important,too,is the increasing emphasis at Berkeley,and at several
of the schools we observed, on African American Studies as a field that encompasses
not only the experience of U.S. Blacks but of peoples and cultures
of African lineage throughout the Americas and indeed throughout the world.
Ford funds provided support for undergraduates, graduate students,
and junior faculty at a time when it has been necessary to ensure the existence
of a coterie of intellectuals to carry the work forward into the next
generation. As colleges and universities acknowledge the importance of
African American Studies and other Ethnic Studies areas to their curricula
(in some cases establishing a new “diversity” requirement); as new areas in
African American Studies develop, increased numbers of African Americanists
are needed to fill the available positions. Moreover, as the field gains
in visibility and as the research continues to address timely and engaging
topics, growing numbers of students have been inspired to enter Ph.D. programs
in the area. In order for the leading universities to nurture undergraduate
and graduate students alike, they have needed to provide financial
and intellectual support. Several of the institutions we visited have found
creative ways to address this situation.