Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

xxii Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States
For the most part, the foundation has committed resources to select
programs and departments over a period of time in order to ensure continuity
and stability. By also funding consortiums and large national organizations,
the foundation has spread limited resources to a wider range of
institutions and individuals than is readily apparent. With each funding
cycle, a broader range of institutions receives funding.
The Implications
In the 25 years since the first Ford Foundation report on African
American Studies was commissioned, the foundation has made almost
$31 million in grants to African American Studies programs, departments,
and organizations. As evidenced in the four reports included in this volume,
it has contributed immeasurably to the institutionalization of this
important intellectual discipline.
Notes
1 Throughout this introduction the term Black Studies connotes the historical
efforts to bring this subject matter into the academy. Afro-American and
African American Studies are used interchangeably to discuss the academic
field that has been institutionalized in the last 20 years. Africana Studies
refers to specific programs with a diasporic focus. It should also be noted
that the Ford Foundation has generically and traditionally used African
American Studies when referring to the field. A further discussion of the
nomenclature appears on pages 118–120 of the essay by Dr. Hine.
2 An ongoing and long-standing debate within African American Studies revolves
around whether it is a field or a discipline. The documents in this volume
use the terms discipline and field somewhat interchangeably without referencing
the debate.
3 These critiques tend to fall into two categories. The first, which has been stated in
print a number of times, charges large foundations, especially Ford, with having
emptied Black Studies of its radical political implications. As early as 1974,
Robert Allen wrote: “By selecting certain programs for funding while denying
support to others, government agencies and foundations could manipulate
the political orientation of these programs and the direction of their academic