African American studies
African American studies, or
Black studies, is an interdisciplinary
academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of
African Americans. Taken broadly, the field studies not only the cultures of people of African descent in the
United States, but the cultures of the entire
African diaspora, from the
British Isles to the
Caribbean. The field includes scholars of
African American literature,
history,
politics,
religion and
religious studies,
sociology, and many other disciplines within the
humanities and
social sciences.
Departments of African American studies were first created in the
1960s and
1970s as a result of student and faculty activism at many universities, sparked by a five months strike for black studies at
San Francisco State. In February of 1968, San Francisco State hired
sociologist Nathan Hare to coordinate the first black studies program and write a proposal for the first Department of Black Studies; the department was created in September 1968 and gained official status at the end of the five-months strike in the spring of 1969. The creation of programs and departments in Black studies was a common demand of protests and
sit-ins by minority students and their allies, who felt that their cultures and interests were underserved by the traditional academic structures. Numerous institutions now offer the degree, including
Brown University,
University of Michigan,
Princeton University, the
University of California, Berkeley,
Harvard University,
Northwestern University, and
University of Cincinnati.
Well-known authors in the field include:
*
Kwame Anthony Appiah*
Molefi Kete Asante *
Angela Y. Davis*
W. E. B. DuBois*
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.*
bell hooks*
Dwight A. McBride*
Manning Marable*
Cornel West*
Maulana Karenga*
Patricia Hill CollinsThere are seven American universities that confer doctoral degrees (Ph.D.) in African American Studies: Northwestern University, Harvard University, Yale University, Temple University, University of Massachusetts, University of California-Berkeley, and Michigan State University. Each of these programs differs in their approach to the field (curriculum, philosophy, and faculty). Harvard and Yale's programs emphasize dual training in a recognized, "traditional" discipline such as English, History, or Sociology. The University of California-Berkeley's program confers a doctoral degree in African Diaspora Studies, rather than African American Studies. This program emphasizes doctoral research that is both comparative and diasporic in nature. The University of Massachusetts' program trains students in two "tracks": literary and cultural studies and history. Michigan State's department focuses on comparative black history. Temple's doctoral curriculum focuses on afrocentric ideologies and methodologies. Finally, Northwestern's program emphasizes dual training in a "traditional" track/discipline, as well as a heightened focus on issues of gender and sexuality (such as "black queer studies").
