Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

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Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States 225 and African American Studies.” This consortium grew out of the Fordfunded Chesapeake Seminar of 1997–99, which attracted faculty from HBCUs in the Chesapeake region. At Cornell, the ASRC’s Ford project linking upstate New York–based consortium with Baltimore’s Morgan State University, was particularly impressive for its use of teleconferencing, distance-learning technology, and its onsite “common seminar.” The relationship between the institutionalization of African American Studies and the diversifying of faculty at schools where such units exist is a complex one—particularly with the diminished commitment to ethnic diversity at all levels at a number of major universities and colleges. The building of African American Studies units in the late 1960s and early 1970s created a mechanism, a highly strategic one, for adding blacks to college faculties that had long been segregated by race and also by gender.Although some of these African American Studies units are now celebrating their 25th and 30th anniversaries, this approach to diversifying faculties has a mixed record in recruitment, retention, and promotion of Black professors. We see a high point of sorts on this front in the early and mid-1980s, when many schools earmarking funds for the hiring of African American faculty members. The effectiveness of this strategy depended upon an institutional commitment to what came to be known as “Target of Opportunity” appointments. Unfortunately, such appointments too often became the only way in which departments would hire individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups (and in some cases, women). Over the past decade, the faltering interest in building an ethnically diverse faculty has been reflected by the drying up of Target of Opportunity funds or, at some institutions, by the use of such moneys to support spousal hires or the appointment of white males in particularly desirable specialization. Arelatedissueinvolvesthedecisionaunitmustmakeaboutpursuingjunior versus senior faculty appointments inAfricanAmerican Studies.On the one hand, hiring at the junior level is risky for a number of reasons, the most obvious of which is thatittakesatleastsix yearsbefore the facultymember is tenured (if he or she is promoted at all) and thus becomes a stable factor in the curriculum and research agenda of the unit. This process is both time-consuming and
226 Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States uncertain.Ontheotherhand,makingseniorappointmentscanbeproblematic. In many cases, mainstream departments undervalue the work of African American Studies scholars, thereby rendering it difficult to muster the support necessarytoconductaneffectiverecruitment.Incaseswheredepartmentalsupport for certain distinguished individuals is forthcoming, the market value of established,wellpublishedAfricanAmericanStudiesscholars(especially,if they happen to be Black) can be inflated beyond the means of the given college or university. Even when the administration is willing to provide the requisite resources to make such appointments, senior faculty members in the given department can sometimes resent the steps that would have to be taken to bring in the African American Studies scholar and undermine the recruitment effort. That said, it is critical to note here that the exaggerated competition for highprofileAfricanAmericanStudiesscholarsappliestobutasmallfractionof those who work in the field. For Afro-American Studies programs it will also be important to make strategic choices in a number of new areas. Library Science, Computer Science, cultural and entertainment programming are but a few fields being shaped by radical changes in information technology. The needs of educational institutions and of the African American community suggest that these areas would be prime ones for innovative curricular alliances. UCLA, for example, has created a collaboration between graduate programs in Afro-American Studies and the School of Education; a similar arrangement is being pursued with the School of Law. Links between Afro-American Studies and the new sectors being created by the information technology economy can generate exciting alliances. Harvard’s Afro-Am Listserv is just one such example. For curricular as well as developmental purposes, programs will need to consider the feasibility of such academic alliances. Notes 1 In the Pinderhughes-Yarborough report, the authors collectively refer to African American Studies programs, departments, institutes, etc., as “units.”
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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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viii Inclusive Scholarship: Develo
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The American University in Crisis a
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Inclusive Scholarship: Developing B
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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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Funding Change: Introduction to the
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Evaluation of Ford-Funded African A
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Introduction Beginning in fiscal ye
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General Assessments Beginning in fi
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PART FOUR A Changing Political Cont
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The Pinderhughes, Yarborough Report
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Page 255 and 256: Contributors Farah Jasmine Griffin
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Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

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