Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies - Ford Foundation

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232 Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States As Black Studies comes of age in the twenty-first century, it still has important intellectual and institutional challenges to confront. Although there are those who will forever question the legitimacy of African American Studies as an intellectual discipline, the field itself must move beyond such tiresome debates and focus instead on its continued growth and development. The wide range of ideologies,perspectives,and stances is testament to the continued evolution of the field.Indeed,the legitimacy of such traditional disciplines as History and English is not questioned simply because diverse perspectives and emphases exist—sometimes within the same department. Sociology and Anthropology have undergone profound internal struggles over their direction and purpose, yet they continue to exist as legitimate and important areas of study. Why is Black Studies under such scrutiny? Certainly, African American Studies scholars need not respond to such diversions every time a journalist 1 decides it’s time to write about a “crisis” in the field? To do so takes away from the important work that remains to be done. The Foundation recognizes the need for African American Studies to exist inAmerican institutions of higher learning.For over 25 years,it has provided support to African American Studies departments and programs at a limited number of institutions. It has also spread its resources beyond that number through the support of consortia that include a range of institutions, and graduate programs whose graduates go on to teach at diverse institutions. The Ford Diversity (formerly Minority) Fellowships program helps to sustain a diverse professoriate, many of whom go on to make contributions to African American Studies. The documents in this volume demonstrate how Foundation support extended to a variety of institutional arrangements that fostered creativity in formal and informal structures to benefit African American Studies and the university at large. These arrangements provide examples of not just “best practices” but working practices that ensure the long-term stability of this vitally important academic field. The reports also speak to the fact that many college students who takeAfricanAmerican Studies courses go on to become teachers, journalists, activists, lawyers, and doctors committed to a more democratic society. These students—and their professions—have benefited greatly from African American Studies. The Foundation’s most significant contribution can be found in the partnerships it established through its grant making with individual schol-
Inclusive Scholarship: Developing Black Studies in the United States 233 ars, institutions of higher education, professional organizations, film makers, and others committed to advancing African American Studies toward the substantive transformation of American higher education to become more diverse and inclusive. Although the last report Ford commissioned to analyze its grant making in African American Studies was completed seven years ago in 2000, the Foundation has not wavered in its continued commitment to Black Studies. Between 2000 and 2006, the Foundation made grants totaling $12.5 million dollars to support academic departments and programs, special initiatives and research in the field of African American Studies. From the beginning of its commitment to the field, Ford has funded institutionalization as a critical and substantial area in need of support. This prioritization is consistent with what Robert L. Harris predicted seventeen years ago in his essay, “The Intellectual and Institutional Development of Africana Studies.” 2 In what Harris described as “the fifth stage in the development of African American Studies,” he anticipated that we would witness the creation of a national network of Ph.D. programs, leading to greater professionalization of the field. Indeed, there are now eight universities 3 that offer the Ph.D. in African American or Africana Studies. Despite precarious funding scenarios at public higher education institutions in particular, a number of institutions that have programs and departments plan to establish Ph.D. programs. 4 There is no question that African American Studies has significant issues and challenges it must face if it is to survive. Many of these have been enumerated in the various reports over time, and continue to resurface, indicating the need to give them attention and support. Some of the core challenges that require attention and support are discussed below. African American Studies and the Challenge of Identity We must draw a distinction between the health of African American Studies as a scholarly field of study and the status of African American Studies programs and departments within specific institutions. Although the two are related, they are distinct. While the scholarly field of African
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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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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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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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