Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

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Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States 169 still struggling for a solid resource base, even after three decades of existence. Finally, one would not have predicted in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when many of these units were born, that we would see in the 1990s a wholesale, brutal assault both on the goal of increasing educational access through such mechanisms as affirmative action and also on the most obvious institutional signs of that hard-won access—Ethnic Studies programs and departments. Indeed, as the findings of this report relate, the undermining of affirmative action in particular and the accompanying backing away from the commitment to increase diversity among undergraduate student bodies, graduate programs, and faculties may have a devastating impact on the institutional status of African American Studies at many universities and colleges. That the number of graduate students of all races who are interested in African American Studies is, at the same time, growing may also portend a future presence of African American Studies courses independent of the presence of African American faculty on that campus. This last issue—that is, the relationship between the growth of the field of African American Studies and the growth of the African American professorate—is a complex and politically vexing one that must be faced directly. Any such report as this one must at some point address the issue of terminology and the related topic of just how the field is defined. In the aforementioned 1990 Ford report, Darlene Clark Hine provides an excellent discussion of the range of ways in which Black Studies units characterize their missions and thus the parameters of the field in each case. 3 This issue is no closer to reaching resolution through consensus in 1999 than it was at the end of the 1980s. Although one can argue that diversity in this regard is a strength or at least a reality that must be acknowledged, it is increasingly clear that such distinctions often entail a divergence in ideological or philosophical thrust which merits serious attention. That is, units that incorporate both African American Studies and African Studies confront radically different challenges in the area of curriculum development, for example, than do those that focus exclusively on the experience of people of African descent in the United States or the Western Hemisphere. Furthermore, the rise of Postcolonial and Diaspora Studies in the 1990s has put
170 Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States new pressure on scholars and administrators to clarify just how the field is to be configured at their schools. This issue might superficially appear to be narrowly theoretical in nature and of relevance primarily to scholars. However, the ways in which the field is defined can lead to real tension and instability in units faced with making difficult curricular and hiring choices. 4 Coming to terms with this issue of field definition will likely become even more pressing as the number of Black Studies doctoral programs increases. At present, in 2000, such programs exist at Temple, UC Berkeley, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Harvard and Cornell are but two schools that may soon start them. Morgan State and Michigan State both grant doctorates in History with a special focus on Black Diaspora Studies. Meanwhile, masters programs at such schools as UCLA, Wisconsin, Cornell, and Yale continue to produce students, and a program has been implemented at Indiana and at the University of South Florida. 5 The establishment of advanced degree programs in the field is certainly one dramatic sign of its increased institutional presence and status. However, this trend also raises a number of concerns. Among them is the untested viability of the Black Studies Ph.D. in what is already a tight academic marketplace. Also, at what point will there need to be a mechanism in place for the evaluation of such programs and perhaps even for some regularizing of curricula? For a range of reasons, the National Council for Black Studies has not been able to fill that role. Yet, there is little indication that any other organization is better situated to do so. Indeed, in any overview of the current growth of advanced degree programs in Black Studies, one cannot help but be struck by how little contact the various degree-granting units actually have with each other. At present, for instance, there is no professional meeting that is regularly attended by the administrative heads of the major Black Studies units in the country. This situation is not a healthful one. In gauging the progress made in the field over the past ten years, one notes a number of significant advances. Among them is the growth in the professional profile of a sizable number of individual Black Studies faculty members. More scholars in the field now hold endowed chairs and positions of distinction at major universities than at any time previously. College curricula are more integrated than ever be-
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A 25th anniversary retrospective of
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Copyright © 1985, 1990, 1994, 2000
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Table of Contents Acknowledgments P
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Preface The Ford Foundation is prim
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The American University in Crisis a
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The Huggins Report Contents Preface
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African American Studies from Imple
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Three Essays: Black Studies in the
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Preface to the Harris, Hine, McKay
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Black Studies: An Overview Darlene
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professional scholars engaged in re
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Page 137 and 138: Funding Change: Introduction to the
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Page 141 and 142: Evaluation of Ford-Funded African A
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PART FIVE Epilogue: Continuing Chal
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Contributors Farah Jasmine Griffin
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Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

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