Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States 217
The Michigan conference ended with an extraordinarily valuable
open discussion of the future of African American Studies—again, with the
emphasis on public policy-related research. (Points made during this portion
of the meeting will make their way to the list of recommendations that
will conclude this review.)
After the conference, the reviewers met with representatives from
three of the four Consortium schools (Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, and
Wisconsin). This exchange provided first-hand information on the impact
of the Ford project at each school. For instance, it quickly became clear that
Carnegie Mellon might have made the most progress with the help of Ford
funding in terms of institutionalizing African American Studies on campus.
Specifically, postdoctoral fellowships were generated, graduate programs
were strengthened, and outreach to the nearby University of
Pittsburgh was encouraged. Carnegie Mellon had made a commitment to
fund an African American Studies junior scholar speaker series modeled
along the lines of the Ford seminar convened there. That said, it is also true
that Carnegie Mellon had perhaps the furthest to go of the four Consortium
schools, with its Black Studies program having just been created in 1990.
At Wisconsin, the initiative strengthened the department’s overall
standing in a university where there is great emphasis placed on the successful
raising of soft money. This could have a positive role in the development
of the field at Wisconsin, given a new Diaspora Studies proposal that
raises the possibility of interdisciplinary cluster hires.
An even more ambitious faculty recruitment effort in African American
Studies appears to be taking place at the University of Michigan, where
plans are underway to generate approximately fifteen new joint faculty
hires. Some discussion has taken place about possibly moving the Center
for Afroamerican and African Studies from program to departmental status.
The Ford grant supported these developments on a number of fronts.
First, the allocation funded a student-mentoring program. In turn, it was
argued, the strength and number of the students in an area help to legitimize
a given program. Secondly, the initiative facilitated links between the
Black Studies unit on campus and the professional schools. And, finally, in