The author talks about a new generation of Ph.D.'s that is advancing the field with a multidisciplinary approach. Like their predecessors who worked to establish black studies as a respected academic discipline, today's Ph.D. students are also attracted to the social mission of the field. But younger black-studies scholars are willing to work with…

Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute and the recognized leader of American black people from 1895 until his death in 1915, has been viewed as an accommodationist to segregation, an African-American leader who traded black equality and voting rights for his own influence among white bigots. Washington rose to national fame with a…

Discusses how Cornel West's threat to leave Harvard for Princeton--taking some black studies colleagues with him--raises questions about the roles of star professors and college presidents. (EV)

The origins of African-American studies are shrouded in a hazy collective memory, and it is becoming increasingly clear that before the field can move into the future, it is necessary to clear up some continuing confusion about why and how it began. Clarifying its beginnings has significant implications for how people think about not just a…

Princeton University has decided to build up its African-American-studies program, developing a new major and adding a number of faculty positions. Enhancing its program will not only allow Princeton to confront the challenge of racial inequality, it will also enable the university to attract some of the "talented students" that members of the…

Interest in black feminist scholarship is growing and changing the discipline. The new questions being addressed are more self-reflective and self-critical than previously. Some scholars are concerned that the new black feminism is too scholarly and not close enough to real-life problems; others fear a separation from white feminism. (MSE)

Discussion of current trends in Black Studies scholarship finds continuity in the activist tradition of emphasizing description, correction, and prescription, as well as increasing emphasis on building coalitions, economics, race, and gender. Focuses on collaboration of scholars and community activists as evidenced in the Black Radical Congress.…

Scholars in the University of Maryland's Afro-American studies program are studying the ways in which black communities have been left behind as white society found new ways to advance economically. They hope to reach into black communities to familiarize those populations with computers and use of the Internet while building a research base in…

Afro-American studies have acquired academic legitimacy. Scholars say the question is no longer whether the field will survive, but how to incorporate Afro-American studies into the curriculum. There has been a revolution in social history because of the unorthodox methods that scholars used to conduct their research. (MLW)

The article describes Temple University's doctoral program in African-American studies, notes the awarding of the first Ph.D. in the program, and discusses controversy surrounding the Afrocentric emphasis of the program. (DB)

The National Congress of Black Faculty is expected to address the problems of the recruitment and promotion of black faculty members, research and publication issues, and the recruitment and retention of black students. (MLW)

While Internet content relating to black culture is burgeoning, and scholars want to make more available, the cost of selecting and organizing materials is hindering their efforts. Some innovative approaches are being used, including an online course on media, technology, and diversity and a compact-disk collection of research on slave trading.…

The role of white scholars in black studies has been a matter of controversy for two decades. The issue of white faculty teaching ethnic studies courses has become increasingly controversial on college campuses. Both racial tensions and academic politics appear to be causing heightened sensitivity. (MSE)

Sudden growth in the number of doctoral programs in black studies is helping to legitimize the discipline in academe, and diversity of curricula is providing students with many more choices of emphasis. Programs have a wide range of focus, from the broadest, the black American experience, to the African diaspora and comparative black studies.…

Research concerns facing scholars are described including: in science--AIDS, exploding star, Ozone Hole, animal patents, Supernova 1987A, quasars, etc.--and in humanities and social sciences--theology, psychology of health, global environment, cognitive archaeology, classic African civilizations, feminism, etc. (MLW)