Describes the experiences of a white faculty member who was hired to teach in the Black Studies department at Fordham University in 1970, examining how the department reacted to a white applicant, how the teacher worked to gain the trust of a very diverse group of students, and how these students reacted to a white educator teaching black studies.…

Discusses today's black studies programs and the division between the empiricist and conceptualist views of black history. Through a personal narrative involving a visit to Tuskegee University, the author muses over Booker T. Washington's type of eloquence in addressing the black experience compared to today's black public intellectual's attempts,…

Discusses the use of citation analysis for ranking academic papers and its application in ranking black studies departments. The author presents results of a nationwide citation analysis--totaling 579 papers--of African American or black studies. Ranking results of black studies departments, universities, and black studies scholars are presented.…

Describes the effects of budget cuts, faculty defections, and low morale on the reputation of the African American studies department at the University of California (Berkeley). The author examines the department's emergence as an intact, resilient, and vital model. (GLR)

Discusses the accomplishments of black studies programs in U.S. colleges and universities and what contributions these studies have made to improving the world of higher education. A group of four scholars provide their opinions. (GR)

There are 380 black studies programs at American colleges and universities, and at least 140 institutions offer degrees in black studies. This review describes some of the programs at highly ranked colleges and universities, which have large differences in their commitments to black studies. Relatively few of the historically black schools offer…

Examines the historical practice of denigrating the intellectual capabilities of blacks. Two theories of black inferiority are discussed as are the abolitionist movement that started the notion of black inferiority and the reaction of black Americans to this trend. (GR)

Provides several viewpoints on whether black studies departments are considered academically respectable or prestigious if they take a separatist or Afrocentrist approach to the study of black history and culture. Additionally, the article examines whether certain areas of black research are dismissed because they are considered scholarly unsound.…

Describes the rise in esteem of Harvard's black studies program resulting from and starting with the appointment of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., as the department's chair. The paper examines the beginnings of the Harvard program in the late 1960s, the faculty resistance, and Gate's actions in revitalizing the department. (GR)

Argues that, as a movement, Afrocentrism is a clever but essentially simple-minded hustle that, in its desire to have the power to define, often justifies low-quality scholarship. Its central failure is the failure to recognize what African Americans have done to realize the truest meanings of democratic possibility. (SLD)

This collection of articles focuses on such topics as the importance of college education among black business leaders; ranking of black colleges; black student recruitment; black scholars and African American publishing; Blacks in the life sciences; segregation in college sports; black enrollments; affirmative action; and differences in student…

This collection of articles includes such topics as: black student matriculations at the highest-ranked colleges and universities; the effect of the racial gap in home ownership on African American higher education; black trustees at major colleges and universities; medical school admissions; race sensitive admissions; fixed-percentage college…

Suggests that banning all racially sensitive programs and practices in higher education is unacceptable, presenting a history of black admission to higher education and examining: minority student recruiting; athletic departments; race sensitive programs sponsored by foundations; reducing black student dropout rates; race sensitive faculty…

This collection of articles on blacks in higher education includes such topics as: college endowments; black studies as a major; why affirmative action does little harm to white students; why blacks are more likely than whites to drop out of college; and how a college education acts as a defense for blacks in an economic downturn. (SM)