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To: David Terkla, Dean, College of Liberal ArtsFrom: Robert Johnson, Jr., Professor and Chair, Africana StudiesRe: AQUAD Review of the DepartmentDate: June 13, 2016First, the Africana Studies Department (“Department”) would like to thank the AQUAD Review Committee (“Committee”) for its two-day review of the Department and the Center for African, Caribbean and Community Development (“Center”). Second, many of the comments in the report are devoid of specific references to documents and information, which makes our response more difficult to formulate. Nevertheless, we have responded to each section of its report by addressing the major points raised in each of its categories.INTRODUCTIONWe concur with the Committee’s concerns when it stated early in the report, “…outside the fact that this review is a mandated periodic university process, we were given no indication of why the review was called for: the specific issues and concerns of the (sic) the department and the administration”. This review of both the Department and the Center was mandated by the administration during a semester when the department lacked fifty percent of its tenure track faculty. One of the remaining faculty members was in her last semester having been rejected for tenure. The Department supports the issue raised by the Committee regarding the timing of the review. Knowing the Department was understaffed with an 18 hour per week administrative assistant and lacking fifty percent of the tenured faculty, there’s strong reason to feel “defensive” about what seems to be a forced evaluation process.Furthermore, we sharply disagree, “that Africana Studies is a department in crisis”. The fact that we are severely understaffed is blatantly true. Having restructured our entire curriculum and introduced eleven new courses is true. That we are in major transition as a department is true. Since our last AQUAD review having made necessary curriculum revisions offers the Department great opportunity to reinvigorate itself and move in exciting new directions. The loss of two junior faculty members further encumbers our stability. However, our renewed search in the fall 2016 and proposed 2017 search can help to revitalize our ranks with young, innovative faculty members. This is not a “crisis” as described by the Committee, but rather building upon the several years of work of the Department, an enormous opportunity to really push the Department forward.Therefore, while we endorse some of the observations made by the Committee, we challenge the recommendations with respect to the appointment of an Interim Chair and Executive Committee. Indeed, the department will need the support of external faculty members as we move forward with our searches. However, our demonstrated curriculum revision process that is continuing has been guided by the Department Chair who has the full support, respect and trust of the faculty. The Committee’s recommendations would only serve to exacerbate the tensions they identified between the Department and the Administration.The Need to Build Trust and Respect between the Department and the AdministrationWhile the Committee does not define what it means by administration, we assume for purposes of this discussion that it means the offices of the Dean of College of Liberal Arts and the Provost/ Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. One observation the Committee made, which is of paramount importance to attempting to improve the Department, is the following:“From both parties we saw evidence of distance, distrust, and alienation—attitudes obviously antithetical to a productive academic relationship, collegiality, and transparency.” (Page 1). The Department believes that the AQUAD review must be made within the context of the entire existence of the Department. Its past must be reviewed as the foundational imperative for the discipline and the present and future must be recognized as both opportunities to celebrate and expand growth. The AQUAD review must be used as a device to cement positive relations between the Department and the Administration. Even though there may not be “…much confidence in the other…” (Page 2), both sides must commit to real dialogue and action on many of the critical issues discussed in the AQUAD report.While we are proud of the accomplishments of the Center for African, Caribbean and Community Development (“CACCD”) and the Haitian Studies Program (“HSP”), we are equally proud of the work of the past year that resulted in two major achievements:Revision of our major/ minor requirements;Creation and approval of eight new courses. This was a major achievement in the face of a loss of 43% of faculty resources due to illnesses or family medical leaves and sabbaticals.Furthermore, over the past twenty years we have brought significant revenues and new programs to the University through the following programs and initiatives:Caribbean Study Abroad initiatives created by professors Prou, Van Der Meer and Johnson and funded by Charles E. Merrill, Jr. As a result of these efforts there is an endowed Merrill Caribbean Study Abroad Fund established at the University which benefits student study abroad programs. The Department now has programs in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti.Professor Van der Meer and Professor Kamara were involved in and organized a large part of an Amistad study abroad program to Cuba.In 2016 Professor Freeman traveled to Cuba to research C02 emissions in the environment. The James Bradford Ames Research Fellowship, which sponsors faculty research on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2015 with a lecture by the fellowship’s first scholar, Robert Hayden. This fellowship program has been funded by Adele Ames.The Department worked well with the Administration through Gina Cappello, Vice Chancellor for Advancement, to procure funds for the Ames Fellowship and Merrill Caribbean Study program. The late Ms. Cappello worked with us to identify funders and procure the resources needed for these programs.The African Diaspora Project, with the Codman Academy Charter School in Dorchester was funded by Charles E. Merrill, Jr. The program provided Africana enrichment courses to parents and students of the school by offering courses on the weekend at University of Massachusetts Boston, establishing cultural activities at the school and creating opportunities for these students and parents to study in Jamaica.In the summer of 2013 Professor Kamara took students on a study abroad program to two international conferences in Senegal and Cabo Verde. Since then he has continued to build relationships taking students and alumni back to Cabo Verde in 2015 and 2016.The Boston Pan-African Forum (“Forum”), wherein several of our faculty played leadership .roles in organizing New England participation in the historic National Summit on Africa (February 17-20, 2000) that drew thousands of scholars and activists to the nation’s capital for discussions with President Clinton and his staff on United States public policy initiatives with Africa. Professor Johnson served as President of the Boston Pan-African Forum during the Summit and Professor Kamara served on its board. Professor Kamara continues to serve as a senior advisor and the Department sponsors an annual meeting of the Forum on campus to welcome new Africana arrivals to the New England area.The Boston Pan-African Forum sponsored the New England Regional Forum of the National Summit on Africa at the JFK Library and the Bayside Expo and Conference Center on July 16 and 17, 1999. Professors Johnson and Kamara played leadership roles in organizing this conference.CACCD over its existence has brought to the University about $3,000,000 dollars through collaborative efforts with local and community development organizations.In the Spring, 2015 Professor Van der Meer took thirty students and community residents to Selma, Alabama to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the march across the Pettus Bridge (Bloody Sunday). This study trip was featured in front page stories in The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald and was covered by PBS radio.The Department has agreed to co-sponsor on October 21, 2016, with the Office of the Chancellor, a lecture by Walter Carrington, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria. On January 16, 2017 the Department has agreed to sponsor the 20th Annual Martin Luther King and Amilcar Cabral commemorative program at the University. The Department has sponsored this event over the past nineteen years.In addition, Professor Kamara is currently editing a manuscript for submission to publishers in 2016, a book of both scholarly and student presentations entitled Leadership and Legacy: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Amilcar Cabral.Professor Van Der Meer founded the Black Activist Journal in 2014.Professor Helenon organized the Africana Forum which allowed speakers, both lay and university scholars to speak on matters pertaining to the Africana world.Professor Helenon organized Sankofa a monthly newsletter on Africana issues.Professor Helenon revised “Don’t Panik. Frenchness Between Hip Hop and Islam”; which is her contribution to?Songs of Freedom in a Strange Land. African-American Music at Home and abroad, edited by Allison Blakely to be published by Rochester: University of Rochester Press in 2017.Professor Helenon has been invited to write an article which will appear in Palgrave Handbook of African Colonial and Postcolonial History, edited by Professor Toyin Falola?to be published in 2017. Her contribution is entitled:?“Colonial Administration, Indirect Rule and Other Forms".?Professor Helenon has been invited to write an article which will appear in Interrogating Gaze: Resistance, Transformation and Decolonizing Praxis, edited by Professor Jemedari Kamara to be published in 2017. Her contribution is entitled:?“History as a tool of Resistance in Contemporary France”Professor Helenon has started a new project, The Africana Boston Project, which explores the diversity of Boston through the eyes of the students.?Professor Helenon is continuing to work on the?Hommage aux Grandes Figures de la Caraibe. Vol. 1 Martinique, Vol. 2 Guadeloupe. Paris (France): Dagan Editions.Professors Johnson and Kamara delivered papers on reparations at the University of Edinburgh on November 5-7, 2015.In order for the Administration and Department to get past what the Committee has termed “…a clearly dysfunctional relationship…” (Page 2), the Administration must recognize all of the achievements of the Department but commit to improvement and further development in the future.The Academic Mission of the Department is BroadThe Committee stated that “Our task is simpler, and our approach and analysis proceed from the first principle that the Africana Studies is an academic department responsible for the education of its students, majors and non-majors.” (Page 2).However, our mission is much broader than that stated by the Committee. Not only must we educate our students through effective teaching, but we must also expand scholarship in the field and offer critical service and support to the Africana community, the profession, the University and the world. Most of our courses and programs of the past and present have attempted to meet these very broad goals.A decoupling of CACCD and HSP from the Department, as suggested by the Committee, would undermine the important progress that has been made to date, stifle future projects and more importantly run afoul of the requirements clearly expressed in trustee policy on the role and responsibilities of faculty in academic matters, which requires that faculty address all three areas of service, scholarship and teaching.The voice of students must be given significant weight in an assessment of the Department. If the Department was dysfunctional would these intelligent students have given such praise to the Department and its faculty?“They told stories about departmental offerings that deepened their commitment to academic pursuits and opened their eyes to different ways of thinking about the world and themselves, and they articulated the desire that the department Studies (sic) have what it needs to become an exemplary academic program. Each of us was touched by these sentiments.” (Page 2).This quote indicates that the students were positively affected by our work as faculty members.In the future we must build on this positive experience and establish safeguards to insure that these students receive a quality education that prepares them for further learning, continued scholarship and productive jobs in the global environment.HISTORICAL CONTEXT“As such, in its early days the UMB Africana Studies department played a critical role in the development of a new academic discipline aiming to study the experiences and cultures of African people in both their current and historical manifestations. In subsequent decades the department continued to expand disciplinary canons through its engagement with the Black intellectual tradition, developing new curricula that reflected the societal demands of the time, incorporating meaningful examinations and analyses of Black culture, teaching languages spoken by people of African descent in both the Caribbean and Africa, serving local communities, and opening access to African American and other Black students from throughout the African Diaspora. In that way the UMB Africana Studies department along with the CACCD contributed to redefining the contours of an academy that now takes seriously Africana/Black Studies as a legitimate discipline equal to more traditional disciplinary subjects.” (Pages 2-3).The Department will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2018- 2019. It was established through the efforts of James Blackwell, emeritus Professor of Sociology at University of Massachusetts Boston and Wornie Reed, the founding director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute. The backdrop of its founding rested upon the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 and the rebellion of African-Americans as more than one hundred and ten American cities went up in flames. The Department came into existence to address the social conditions that led to frustration and riots in the streets and to offer black and other oppressed people access to higher education that would lead to self-improvement both spiritually and materially. The Department is still relevant to this marginalized community of people because the inequality of the 60’s is still being manifested today through educational disparity, income inequality, wealth and health disparity, gentrification and mass incarceration.Africana must redefine its mission, goals and directionsThe Department has more than met these goals outlined by the Committee. We have re-defined the requirements for major/minors and have developed eleven new courses. These courses are designed to address the need to prepare students to understand and address problems in the areas of public policy and community development, especially in law, human rights, public health and environmental justice. In order to meet the requirement of innovation, the Department has sought for next academic year the procurement of a new tenure track line in Africana Studies and Urban Planning. This new course would allow our substantial scholarship and experience in community development and public policy to be utilized in the School for the Environment. The preliminary appointment description is included as Attachment A. The Committee believes that with support from the Administration, the Department can become a leader in the field.“Our report provides what we see as a foundation for re-envisioning and developing a thriving Africana Studies program that may once again become a national leader in the field.” (Page 4). We have been leaders in the field through our work in the Caribbean, Cape Verdes, Africa and the United States. We have created positive ventures at all levels of the Africana world that have positively impacted the lives of individuals and communities. This has been reflected in our programs such as The African Diaspora Project and the Haitian Creole Institute. Africana StudiesNew CurriculumUndergraduate teaching and curriculum development has been the top priority of the Department since the last AQUAD review. During the past three academic years the Department developed and submitted for governance approval eleven new courses:AFRSTY #116 African Civilizations: Historical Perspectives AFRSTY #117 Modern African Historical PerspectivesAFRSTY #118 African SocialismAFRSTY #122 Black Cinema???????????????????????????????? ???????? AFRSTY #113?Islam in the African World AFRSTY #210 The Making of the African Diaspora AFRSTY #401 Applied Research Methods in Africana Studies????AFRSTY #404 Race, Class and Health Inequalities????????????? AFRSTY #406 Race, Class and Environmental JusticeAFRSTY #407 Immigration Law and Race in AmericaAFRSTY #408 Human Injustice, Reparations and the LawIn addition, the Department has revised its major/minor requirements. These new requirements have been approved at all levels of governance. Some of the new courses have not been offered because the final courses were just approved at the end of the academic year 2015-2016. Afrsty 116 and 117 were developed by Professor Helenon and have been approved by governance. However, in order to offer the balance of the courses, the Administration must provide resources for new faculty appointments to teach these courses.The courses that have been approved by governance can be taught by faculty currently in the Department, but new faculty will be required after the loss of the two junior faculty. The eight approved courses can be taught by the following faculty:AFRSTY #118 African Socialism- Johnson or NuruddinAFRSTY #122 Black Cinema- Colvard???????????????????????????????? ???????? AFRSTY #113?Islam in the African World- Nuruddin AFRSTY #401 Applied Research Methods in Africana Studies- Freeman????AFRSTY #404 Race, Class and Health Inequalities- Freeman???????????? AFRSTY #406 Race, Class and Environmental Justice- FreemanAFRSTY #407 Immigration Law and Race in America- Johnson or new facultyAFRSTY #408 Human Injustice, Reparations and the Law- Johnson or new facultyDepartment PrioritiesThe top priority of the Department during academic year 2016-2017 is to recruit new faculty to replace the two lost as a result of the tenure decisions of the Administration. We agree with the Committee’s recommendation which states:“We recommend in the strongest possible terms that the administration makes immediate plans to hire senior as well as recently tenured faculty along with promising junior scholars qualified to develop a twenty-first century curriculum for twentyfirst-century students, and that the university commit to additional tenure-track lines to replace current faculty when they retire.” (Page 5).In addition, the Administration should provide resources to recruit and support non-tenure track faculty by crediting their service to the department and by designating their status as continuing employees.As part of their service obligations, these new faculty members would assist the Department in addressing the recruitment and support of new majors.FacultyWe have asked the Administration for permission to recruit the following positions:African-American History and African-American Women’s History;African History and African Diaspora History;Africana Studies and Urban Planning, a joint appointment with School for the Environment and Africana Studies.In the event Professor Azuonye retires we will need to recruit for a fourth position: African Literature and Folklore and African-American Literature. We therefore endorse the recommendation of the Committee with respect to recruitment of faculty.Syllabus reviewThe development of the eleven (11) new courses listed on page 6 helped the Department learn what the CLA Senate expected to be included in each syllabus. We have attached a copy of a syllabus that has been approved by both the Academic Affairs Committee and the CLA Senate.We will insure that all of our syllabi follow this format in Attachment B. “We recommend that the department initiate a major review of its course expectations and goals and its means of assessing student learning. We also recommend that faculty revisit their text choices, include more primary sources and up-to-date textbooks, and a wider range of critical and disciplinary perspectives. We encourage the faculty to take advantage of resources like the UMB’s Center for Innovative Teaching, online syllabus banks, and colleagues with expertise in outcomes assessment.” (Page 5).During this academic year Professor Helenon participated in the CIT seminar and she addressed the conference in May, 2016. With the initiation of the CIT seminar and the curricula renovations and augmentations, we have already begun a critical review of our curriculum development process as required by our former AQUAD review. By copy of this memorandum, the Department, which has already begun the curriculum review process, is requesting that each faculty member re-design his/her fall 2016 syllabi to conform to the updated requirements of the College. Cross-listed courses and relationships with other departmentsWe have listed all of the courses that are cross-listed courses in Attachment C. We will review this list and eliminate courses that are no longer offered or appropriate to our revised curriculum. In updating our cross-listed courses we will become familiar with the courses in other departments that are related to Africana studies.Course schedulingOur current policy is to alternate between Tues-Thurs and Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedules, so that in each academic year professors teach in both periods. We have already ensured that courses are offered during the morning, afternoon and evenings so that students can have access to courses that they need to complete their major/minor.Undergraduate advisingOur current policy is to assign advisors to all of our majors/minors. In the fall the students will be informed of their advisors and encouraged to meet with them twice per semester. In addition, an Advisory Committee will be established. The Committee will form a relationship with the Office of Career Services and Internships.Course evaluationsIt has come to our attention through the tenure review process of Professor Veronique Helenon that the teaching evaluation instrument was faulty. As a result of this revelation, the Department asked the Administration to rectify this gross error on the Department’s part, but as of today, we have not received a response from the Administration. We would like the Provost and the Chancellor to reverse their decisions with respect to the teaching of Professor Helenon in view of the Department’s defective and unfair teaching evaluation instrument. As an alternative, we ask that an independent committee, comprised of tenured faculty in the College of Liberal Arts be appointed, with input from the Dean and Chair of the Department, to review the teaching performance of Professor Helenon and make a recommendation to the Provost on whether she exhibited strength in teaching.However, we have moved forward to change the current teaching evaluation by eliminating the following questions from the form, Teaching Evaluation Questionnaire: 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and reassigning questions 21 and 22. We have enclosed the questionnaire that had been used in the past as Attachment E. We have revised the instrument, taking into consideration the comments of the Committee and have enclosed the proposed new form as Attachment F. We would like the Dean’s Office to review the document and suggest changes where needed. Junior FacultyThe Department’s last hire was an African-American woman. The other African-American woman has been in the Department for over eleven years and was supported by the Department when her position came up for a tenure track appointment. The Department supported both women when they came up for tenure. The Department did everything in its power to mentor and advise these junior faculty members. However, leaves and lack of availability due to research and other academic priorities, made it difficult for senior faculty to mentor junior faculty on a consistent basis. Nevertheless, junior faculty were made aware of the tenure requirements and periodically senior faculty consulted them to make sure they were making progress. The creation of a Mentoring Committee made of faculty inside and outside the Department would give us additional faculty resources for this important task. The Mentoring Committee shall develop a plan of reviews of junior faculty progress.We would like more consistency from the Administration on the relative weight to be given to the three factors in tenure review decisions. In his visit to our Department the Provost said that the evaluation of the three areas would not be equal and that the University was placing more emphasis on scholarship. If research was a priority, there should have been no question on the tenure of Professor Helenon since she had one published book and a contract for a second and she was able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Department why her initial teaching evaluations were less than satisfactory. Moreover, the Department determined that her teaching merited “Strength”.Non-tenured facultyWe believe there should be additional support for non-tenured faculty in our Department. Funds should be made available for them to attend conferences and engage in other forms of professional development.Administration’s responsibilityIt is important that the Administration and Department develop a working relationship that is transparent and supportive. We therefore endorse the following recommendation from the Committee:“We recommend in the strongest possible terms that the administration reevaluate both its academic and fiscal commitment to this department as well as the level of oversight that will ensure the department’s success and advancement.” (Page 8).RECOMMENDATIONSThe Department does not recommend that the dean appoint an external interim chair for two years to restructure and stabilize the department. The Department is not in crisis, but in sore need of additional faculty/ staff, administrative support and financial support.The Department does not recommend the appointment of an executive committee to assist an interim chair. Rather, we recommend the selection of an Africana Advisory Committee whose members shall be appointed by the Department and consist of Africana faculty, non-Africana faculty (both internal and external), students, alumni and community residents.The Administration should authorize the recruitment and hiring of the 2.5 FTE faculty members outlined in this document on page 6, including a replacement for Professor Azuonye, if necessary.The Administration should authorize the recruitment and hiring of an experienced full-time career administrative assistant, and the administration should commit to providing a permanent FTE to ensure such a hire. The Department Chair, elected according to normal procedures, should take the following actions: a. Review the 2016-2017 course schedule to ensure that appropriate steps have been undertaken to help the new curriculum be implemented. He will also determine what steps are necessary to insure that the department has a two-year projection of courses that would be necessary for students to take to fulfill graduation requirements; b. Make sure that all of our courses have been approved by governance which means that they are appropriate from a college and university perspective. Nevertheless, we shall review every course syllabus to ensure that its requirements meet expectations of workload and rigor appropriate to its level (100-, 200-, etc.), and includes a clear instruction schedule and assessment process (paper assignments, exams, etc.); c. Revise its course teaching evaluation form and review other departments’ faculty assessment instruments; d. Require every faculty member to submit an annual faculty report (AFR) to the chair to be forwarded to the dean for review; e. Review the student academic advising process to ensure that majors and minors receive the guidance they need to fulfill the curriculum requirements with courses offered by Africana Studies as well as other departments; f. Develop strategies to increase the number of majors and minors with initiatives like a well-publicized “What Is Africana Studies?” event with short presentations by Africana Studies and affiliated faculty, current students, and alumni; g. Work to increase the intellectual prominence and prestige of the department on the UMB campus and beyond with events and programs such as a symposium featuring prominent scholars and activists that focuses on Africana Studies in the twenty-first century; h. Establish a well-funded (with support from other departments, the Center for Center for the Study of Humanities, Culture, and Society, and the Trotter Institute) lecture series that would bring to campus artists, writers, and public intellectuals); i. Strengthen the working relations with departments (e.g., English, American Studies) that have offered cross-listed courses with Africana Studies, and forge new connections with other departments in the College of Liberal Arts and throughout the University; j. Secure opportunities for faculty development and ensure mentorship of the junior faculty; k. Organize two retreats yearly for the faculty—one to be held before the beginning of the school year to discuss vision and direction, the other mid-year to assess progress.To demonstrate its genuine commitment to the stabilization of the Africana Studies Department, the Administration must commit in writing to providing adequate funding to overhaul the curriculum, revamp initiatives, hire staff, and support faculty. Center for African, Caribbean and Community Development The review team report concludes, “To put it simply: the CACCD has a record of accomplishment despite the odds, and it has intellectual, social, and political relevance for the future. We therefore recommend that the university administration with the center’s directors develop a plan to help the CACCS (sic) realize its potential”. One of the items of tension between the department and the administration has been the “existence” of the Center. The review team states that the first day they were told, “there is no Center”. How were they expected to review something objectively after being told that it didn’t exist? ORSP didn’t hold this position when it accepted nearly three million dollars in grants for the Center and its collaborating partners. The central source of the tension seems to rest between the department and CLA. If documents need to be filed to update the Center’s mission, relationship to the department and community, that could be appropriate. But such a discussion cannot begin by negating nearly twenty years of work, millions of dollars generated for UMB and disrespecting the value of the faculty time and energy that’s gone into developing the reputation for excellence and commitment of the center (and UMB) locally and in numerous developing communities internationally.The review committee comments on the “poor record keeping” by “overtaxed faculty members” and the need for better budget reporting, clearly suggests our inability to adequately convey to the review committee that there’s been NO budget to report. Everything in the office (upon which they comment) is second hand everything, including the old computing systems the college refused to upgrade this year since they weren’t assigned to individual faculty. It now seems that it was actually due to the fact that the CLA doesn’t respect the work of the center enough to invest in it.In order to move forward and attempt to reconstruct a relationship, we recommend, in part, that:1. The CLA/UMB administration acknowledge the existence and the work of the CACCD. 2. The Center director meet with the CLA dean to mutually determine the appropriate paperwork to be filed that will regularize the Center as an official part of CLA and UMB. 3. The CACCD receive an annual operating budget that will provide systems and furnishing support, promotional materials, an infrastructure base and establish conventional reporting and accounting practices. 4. The Administration assist CACCD in obtaining financial support for its programs such as the Youth, Education and Sports with Africa Program (YES), and the Haitian Studies Project Initiatives (HSPI), especially its Haitian Creole Language and Culture Institute, which has substantial potential for growth in providing language instruction and immersion in Haitian Creole (thus benefitting both UMB’s and Boston’s growing Haitian community).5. The CACCD hire a full-time administrative staff person who would assist with program development, grant writing and management, office administration, student and volunteer staff oversight, international program coordination, etc.6. The CACCD director’s position be supported with compensation and the restoration of course release7. A faculty associate director assist the director develop and manage domestic and international program initiatives, write grants, initiate training and supervise fiscal operationsFurthermore, we recommend that CACCD file appropriate paperwork that would make it a regular and official part of UMB’s system of centers and institutes. We recommend that CACCD establish conventional reporting and accounting practices that are used in other UMB Centers, if it has not done so already. We recommend that the Administration assist CACCD in obtaining financial support for its programs such as the Youth, Education and Sports with Africa Program (YES), and the Haitian Studies Project Initiatives (HSPI), especially its Haitian Creole Language and Culture Institute, which has substantial potential for growth in providing language instruction and immersion in Haitian Creole (thus benefitting both UMB’s and Boston’s growing Haitian community).Current intellectual trends in the fieldAfricana Studies faculty are aware of current intellectual trends.Through Professor Nuruddin’s article and attendance at national and international conferences, the Department has kept up to date with trends and developments in Africana Studies. The following article, cited as "Africana Studies: Which Way Forward?" pp.93-125, Socialism and Democracy, Volume 25, No. 1, March 2011, Special Issue, "What Is African American Studies, Its Focus, and Future?"?edited by John H. McClendon and Yusuf Nuruddin is included herein as Attachment D.?Members of the faculty will attend this academic year’s National Council of Black Studies (NCBS) annual meeting and are subscribers to listserv and the H-Afro-Am Net listserv where email communications are regularly disseminated to all members of the Department. The conference dates for the 2017 NCBS Conference (41st Annual Conference) will be March 8-11, 2017 at the Hilton Houston Post Oak Hotel. The University of Houston is the Local Host Committee.Professor Helenon has expanded our scholarship to include Afro-European issues which is a cutting edge intellectual development in the field.CONCLUSIONSThe Africana studies Department is not in crisis, but in transition. This transitional phase is reflected in our new curricula initiatives. (Eleven new courses). These curricula changes were undertaken because of sincere reflection and review of the curricula after the AQUAD report of 2010. The new courses and changes in major/minor requirements were made in order to improve the Department.Rather than being in crisis, we are at the operational phase of our new academic policies. How do we make the curricula changes an essential part of the academic agenda so that the changes are reflected in what we teach and research as scholars? An example of our clear vision in this regards is our outreach to the School for the Environment as we seek a collaborative relationship in urban and regional planning. It is our intention to seek more collaborative relationships with departments in the College of Liberal Arts and with other academic units throughout the University.We believe that resources are more the issue than lack of departmental vision or departmental crisis. The loss of the two junior faculty will certainly continue to have a negative impact upon departmental resources. We, therefore, ask that the Administration give our suggestions, especially as they pertain to Professor Helenon, sincere consideration.The Committee’s assessment ignored the substantial improvements in the syllabi of the eleven new courses. The College of Liberal Arts and the Faculty Council have given their approval to both the substance and the format of the courses and their respective syllabi. Therefore, we will make sure that all of our syllabi adopt the format used in the eleven recently approved courses.Our Department scholarship is consistent with the strengths of the faculty and the requirements of professional organizations in our field such as the National Council of Black Studies and the African Heritage Studies Association. Moreover, there is no “core curriculum” in Africana Studies and no department is adept in covering all strands of inquiry in the field. We, like most departments, provide general coverage and then make our scholarly distinction based upon the strength of the faculty.Finally, it is important that the Department clarify its vision, crystalize its strengths and produce a clear plan for the future. We have made major strides in these endeavors. Our students have spoken glowingly about our strengths as teachers and many of our students have gone on to graduate school and obtained doctorate degrees in the field because of the education they received in our department. We will use these positive student comments and achievements in a systematic manner so that the University community learns more about our good work as teachers and scholars.The Department and Administration must rally around Africana Studies’ new curriculum and resources should be provided to ensure success during the next few years of transition. APPENDIX ATTACHMENT A DRAFTProposed Joint Faculty Appointment: Graduate Program in Urban Planning and Community Development (UPCD) WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF AFRICANA STUDIES, UMASS BOSTON. (Description of the Scope of Work and Academic Activities) June 3, 2016This draft document proposes a set of requirements and expectations for candidates applying for a joint appointment between the Graduate Program in Urban Planning and Community Development (UPCD) and the Department of Africana Studies at UMass Boston.The candidate should hold a doctorate degree preferably in Africana Studies, Environmental Studies, Urban and Regional Planning or a related field of study. Candidates, in addition to holding the doctorate degree in either of the above areas of study), should also possess prior professional experience working in an urban/ community environment or in state/ local government. The candidate must have at least three years of teaching experience, preferably at the graduate level and have played a major research advising role on research projects undertaken by graduate students enrolled in a graduate degree academic program.The successful candidate will have demonstrated the requisite background and experience to engage effectively in research, teaching and service in African American communities. The candidate will be expected to draw from his or her experiences and background when teaching in two course areas of study, including: Environmental, Justice, Race and Policy. For this course of study, candidates will be expected to engage in pedagogy that will illuminate the degree to which environmental ‘injustices’ have caused numerous dislocations in African American and poor communities in both urban and rural areas of the United States. Candidates will be expected to cover -in great detail- some of the broader aspects of environmental justice, including an examination of various social, ethical and economic forces, and will explore the validity of what many environmentalists have termed environmental racism. Candidates will also be expected to incorporate their background, expertise and breadth of knowledge related to applied research methods to teach an Applied Research Methods in Africana Studies course. Candidates are expected to be able to provide students with a solid base of knowledge about essential applied research methods, including both contextual and conceptual skills as well as hands –on research applications intended to improve the analysis of complex problems confronting people of African descent, with special attention on African Americans. Candidates must be able to place heavy emphasis on critical thinking about the sociological, cultural, political and economic underpinnings of the Africana experience. ATTACHMENT B Africana Studies Department UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON Fall 2016 AfrSty 408 HUMAN INJUSTICE, REPARATIONS AND THE LAW Robert Johnson, Jr. Esq., 617-287-6794 Robert.johnson@umb.edu W-4-100 Office Hours: To be Announced Distribution: World Cultures (Pending) Diversity: International (Pending) COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will explore human injustices world-wide and the legal responses both nationally and internationally. Specifically, the course will explore slavery, Jim Crowism, Japanese internment, the holocaust in Europe and Native-American genocide in the United States. LEARNING OUTCOMES 1. Students will learn the definition of reparations and its implementation in Europe and Asia.2. Students will understand the debate within the United States over whether a debt is owed by the West to African-Americans and Africans. 3. Students will understand the role of law in this movement and discourse.4. Students will understand the key literature associated with this debate and discourse. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Grading Attendance and Participation (5%)Attendance will be recorded. It is assumed that you will attend every class with the possible exception of up to three unavoidable absences due to illness, family matters, or other emergencies. Poor attendance will impact the grading percentage under this section. If you miss more than three classes, you will forfeit one percentage point for every absence beyond the three allowed. Midterm Examination (20%) The midterm examination will count toward 20% of your final grade. The midterm will cover the first half of the semester’s material. Final Examination (20%) The final examination will count toward 20% of your final grade. The final examination will cover the second half of the material (although it will build upon many of the concepts covered in the first half of the semester). Problem Analysis Assignments (15%)There will be six assignments given during the course of the semester that will require students to write a short analysis of a problem that will be presented by the professor. Each assignment will consist of a question on the texts and/or a problem that tests the degree of comprehension of the materials. Assignments will be distributed in class and will be due at the next class meeting. Final Research Paper (40%)Each student must write a final paper of at least fifteen pages that addresses some aspect of human rights violations and reparations. The student must demonstrate that he/she has studied the problem thoroughly, to the extent that he/she increases knowledge and understanding of the problem and argue its relevance to the Africana community and the world at large. Course Goals The course goals are for students to gain an understanding of human injustices and legal remedies in the United States and Europe. In addition to the course content, other goals for students are to develop skill capabilities in the following areas: Clear Writing Students will be exposed to specific instruction and discussion on clear writing. Students will learn to write and cite evidence appropriately, and to organize and structure their material in a clear way. Through formal and informal written assignments, students will reflect on their learning process as well as analyze a topic using two or more readings. Speaking/ListeningEarly in the semester, adequate class time will be devoted to discussing the elements of making a good oral presentation. Students will be required to make short oral presentations. 3. Critical Reading and Analysis Students will be required to read texts carefully and to analyze content matter critically. COURSE POLICIES Classroom behavior Courteous behavior is expected in class. This means listening as well as talking. It also means not disrupting others through irrelevant conversations, persistent lateness, or other distracting behavior. We will follow the rules and the spirit of academic conduct explained in your student handbook. Wandering in and out of classroomHowever unintended, going in and out of the classroom after class has started is disruptive to others. It is expected that as university students you will plan ahead so that you can sit through a 75-minute class period without having to leave the room. If you have a medical condition that makes this impossible, it is important that you let me know. Otherwise, leaving the classroom before the class is over is expected to be an extremely rare event. Computers in Class Use of computers or any other electronic device may only occur for direct in class student purposes and with the prior consent of the instructor. Any violation of this policy may be subject to grading penalty. Collaborative Work In all assignments students are encouraged to work together. Study groups may be useful in helping students to understand complicated concepts in the materials. Although students may work together in discussing and reviewing the materials, all papers must be written by the student alone. The group should not write the paper. This is the responsibility of each student. Late AssignmentsFor each day that an assigned paper is late, your grade will be reduced. It is important to get in the habit of meeting deadlines. For example, one increment of your grade will be reduced (A to A-) for each day late. UNIVERSITY POLICIES Accommodations StatementThe University of Massachusetts Boston is committed to providing reasonable academic accommodations for all students with disabilities. This syllabus is available in alternate format upon request. If you have a disability and feel you will need accommodations in this course, please contact the Ross Center for Disability Services, Campus Center, Upper Level, Room 211 at 617.287.7430. . After registration with the Ross Center, a student should present and discuss the accommodations with the professor. Although a student can request accommodations at any time, we recommend that students inform the professor of the need for accommodations by the end of the Drop/Add period to ensure that accommodations are available for the entirety of the course. Academic Conduct StatementIt is the expressed policy of the University that every aspect of academic life, not only formal coursework situations, but all relationships and interactions connected to the educational process, shall be conducted in an absolutely and uncompromisingly honest manner. The University presupposes that any submission of work for academic credit indicates that the work is the student’s own and is in compliance with University policies. In cases where academic dishonesty is discovered after completion of a course or degree program, sanctions may be imposed retroactively, up to and including revocation of the degree. Students are required to adhere to the Code of Student Conduct, including requirements for academic honesty, delineated in the University of Massachusetts Boston Bulletin, found at: Student Support StatementSubject tutoring and writing assistance are available through the Office of Academic Support Programs (287-6550 or academicsupport.umb.edu). Writing Proficiency Assignments Since you will be writing an expository paper of at least five (5) pages, that will require you to analyze two or more sources, you may be able to submit the paper as a Writing Proficiency Portfolio Essay. REQUIRED TEXTS: 1. Roy L. Brooks, Editor, When Sorry Isn’t Enough: “The Controversy over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice,” (New York: New York University Press, 1999)2. Randall Robinson, The Debt: “What America Owes to Blacks,” (New York: Plume, 2000)3. Frederick Douglass, Narratives of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1988) Supplementary Readings (On Reserve or Blackboard): 1. Michael T. Martin and Marilyn Yaquinto, Editors, Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007) 2. Raymond A. Winbush, Editor, Should America Pay? “Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations,” (New York: Amistad, 2003) 3. Boris I. Bittker, The Case for Black Reparations, (Boston: Beacon Press, 2003) 4. Ronald P. Salzberger and Mary C. Turck, Editors, Reparations for Slavery: A Reader (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004) 5. Alfred L. Brophy, Reparations: Pro & Con (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ASSIGNMENTS: Week One: Nazi Persecution, the Holocaust and the Rule of Law1. Brooks, pages 17 – 48; Alan Davies, “The German Third Reich and Its Victims,” pages 3-11; Judith Jaegemann, “Memories of My Childhood in the Holocaust,” pages 23-29; Wanda Poltawska, “The Human ‘Guinea Pigs’ of Revensbruck,” pages 33-42; Ruth Levor, “Stranger in Exile,” pages 47-48. 2. Alfred L. Brophy, “Evaluating Reparations Lawsuits” (On Reserve) Week Two: Nazi Persecution (Continues)Brooks, pages 51-80; Putative National Security Defense “Extracts from the Testimony of Nazi SS Group Leader Otto Ohlendorf at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trails,” pages 51-57; German Compensation for Nationalist Socialist Crimes, March 6, 1996, “The United States Department of Justice Foreign Claims Settlement Commission,” pages 61-67; Ian Hancock, “Romani Victims of the Holocaust and Swiss Complicity,” pages 68-76; Hubert Kim, “German Reparations: Institutionalized Insufficiency,” pages 77-80. Week Three: Comfort Women Sex Slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army Brooks, pages 87-145. Week Four: Japanese-Americans Internment of Japanese -Americans1.Brooks, pages 157-204; Roy L. Brooks, “Japanese American Redress and the American Political Process,” pages 157-162; Sandra Taylor, “The Internment of Americans of Japanese Ancestry,” pages 165-168; Executive Order, pages 169-170; Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians,” pages 171-176; Roy L. Brooks, “Japanese American Narratives,” pages 177-179; Roger Daniels, “Relocation, Redress, and the Report: A Historical Appraisal,” pages 183-186; Roger Daniels, “Redress Achieved, 1983-1990,” page 189; Leslie T. Hatamiya, “Institutions and Interest Groups: Understanding the Passage of the Japanese American Redress Bill,” pages 190-202; Roger Daniels, “Response to Criticisms of Monetary Redress,” pages 203-204.2. Eric K. Yamamoto, “What’s Next? Japanese American Redress and African-American Reparations” (On Reserve) Week Five: Reparations and Human Rights Violations Brooks, pages 206-227; German Americans, Italian Americans, and the Constitutionality of Reparations, “Jacobs v. Barr, Opinion of the Court,” pages 206-215; The Case of Japanese Peruvians, pages 217-221; Letters from John J. McCloy and Karl R. Bendetsen, pages 222-227. Week Six: Native-Americans and Forced Removal 1.Brooks, pages 233- 269; Lawrence Armand French, “Native American Reparations: Five Hundred Years and Counting,” pages 214-247; Hairy Bear, “The Killing of Big Snake, a Ponca Chief, October 31, 1879,” page 251; Turning Hawk and American Horse (Sioux), “The Massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, December 29, 1890,” pages 252-253; Palaneapope, “How the Indians Are Victimized by Government Agents and Soldiers,” pages 254-256; Chief Little Hill, “Forced Removal of the Winnebago Indians, Nebraska, October 3, 1865,” pages 257-258; Nell Jessup Newton, “Indian Claims for Reparations, Compensation, and Restitution in the United States Legal System, pages 261-269”.2. Haunan-Kay Trask, “Restitution as a Precondition of Reconciliation: Native Hawaiians and Indigenous Human Rights” (On Reserve). Week Seven: Native-Americans and Genocide Brooks, pages 273-303 Robert A. Williams, Jr., “The True Nature of Congress’s Power over Indian Claims,” pages 273-279; Rick Hill, “Reparations Must Heal Old Wounds,” pages 283-287; Office of the Governor, Pete Wilson, State of California, Press Release, Sacramento, March 6, 1998, pages 291-293; Statement of the Honorable Anthony R. Pico, Chairman, Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, Press Conference, San Diego, March 13, 1998, pages 294-297; Naomi Mezey, “The Distribution of Wealth, Sovereignty, and Culture through Indian Gaming,” pages 298-303. Week Eight: Slavery, Dred Scott v. Sandford 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857)1. Brooks, pages 309- 344 Roy L. Brooks, “Not Even an Apology?” pages 309-314; Leon Higginbotham, Jr., “The Legal Status of African Americans during the Colonial Period,” pages 327-332; Roy L. Brooks, “Slave Narratives,” pages 317-324; Jennifer Fleischner, “Remembering Slavery,” pages 333-335; James Grahame, Esq., “Life as a Free Black,” pages 336-337; Joe R. Feagin & Eileen O’Brien, “The Growing Movement for Reparations,” pages 341-344. 2. Jon M. Van Dyke, “Reparations for the Descendants of American Slaves Under International Law” (On Reserve); Douglass, pages 1-180. Week Nine: Apology as a Remedy?1.Brooks, pages – 347-390; James Grahame, Esq., “Why the North and South Should Have Apologized,” pages 347-349; Congressman Troy P. Hall of Ohio, “Defense of Congressional Resolution Apologizing for Slavery,” pages 350-351; Clinton Opposes Slavery Apology, page 352; Howard W. French, “The Atlantic Slave Trade: On Both Sides, Reason for Remorse,” pages 355-347; Robert S. McElvaine, “They Didn’t March to Free the Slaves,” pages 358-359; Thomas Geoghegan, “Lincoln Apologizes,” pages 360-361; Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, “The Commission to Study Reparations Proposals,” pages 367-369; Mary E. Smith, “Clinton and Conservatives Oppose Slavery Reparations,” pages 370-371; Boris I. Bittker and Roy L. Brooks, “The Constitutionality of Black Reparations,” pages 374-389. 2. Molefi Kete Asante, “The African American Warrant for Reparations: The Crime of and its Consequences” (On Reserve). Week Ten: Jim Crowism, Legalized Segregation in America1. Brooks, pages 395- 438; Roy L. Brooks, “Redress for Racism?” pages 395-398; John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., “The Triumph of White Supremacy,” pages 401-404; Abby Snyder, “Jim Crow Narratives,” pages 407-410; Joe R. Feagin and Eileen O’Brien, “The Long-Overdue Reparations for African Americans,” pages 417-421; C.J. Munford, “Reparations: Strategic Considerations for Black Americans,” pages 422-426. 2. Ronald P. Salzberger & Mary C. Turck “Restoring White Supremacy: Jim Crow” (On Reserve) Week Eleven: South Africa Legalized Segregation in South Africa Brooks, pages 443- 500; African National Congress Statement to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, August 1996, pages 451-454; Testimony of Jeffrey T. Benzien, “Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Amnesty Hearing, July 14, 1997,” pages 457-460; Affidavit and Testimony of Bassie Mkhumbuzi, “Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Amnesty Hearing,” pages 461-466; Dr. Alexander Boraine, Vice Chairperson, South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “Alternatives and Adjuncts to Criminal Prosecutions,” pages 469-474; Wilhelm Verwoerd, “Justice after Apartheid? Reflections on the South African TRC,” pages 479-486; Emily H. McCarthy, “Will the Amnesty Process Foster Reconciliation among South Africans?” pages 487-491; Eric K. Yamamoto and Susan K. Serrano, “Healing Racial Wounds? The Final Report of South African’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” pages 492-500. Week Twelve: Reparations to African-Americans? What Debt is owed to African-Americans?Robinson, pages 1-96. Week Thirteen: What Form of Reparations? Robinson, pages 97- 247. Week Fourteen: Reconstruction of Black Communities as Reparations1. Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. “Tulsa Reparations: The Survivor’s Story” (On Reserve) 2. Review. Week Fifteen: Presentations of final research papers APPENDIX CLIST OF RELATED AFRICANA STUDIES COURSES OFFERED BY OTHER UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENTSWhere any Africana Studies course is not available in any given semester, Africana Studies majors may, with the approval of their advisors or the Department Chair, offer any of the following courses as substitutes. At the time of approval, the academic specialization of the course will be determined.AmSt.L355Black Popular CultureAmSt.L376Women of Color Anthro. 272Peoples and Cultures of AfricaAnthro. 274Peoples and Cultures of the CaribbeanArt264Topics in the Art of AfricaCrmJus. L321Racial and Ethnic RelationsEcon343The Political Economy of Black AmericaEngl.235Black Literature in AmericaEngl.L352Harlem RenaissanceEngl.354Black Presence in American Literature Engl.355Black Poetry Engl.356The African-American Novel Engl.357African-American Women Writers Engl.358Caribbean Literature Engl.359African Women Writers Hist.152Introduction to African HistoryHist.153Africa in the Twentieth CenturyHist.300Ancient African Civilization to 600B.C.Hist.352Topics in African HistoryHist.367Modern South AfricaHist.368Slavery in AfricaHist.373American SlaveryHist.482 Seminar in African HistoryLatAm.306 The Caribbean: Culture and SocietyPerforming ArtsDance133Jazz Dance IDance 233Jazz Dance IIMusic G252Black American Music 251 The History and Development of Jazz in America 252African and African-American Music Z255 Jazz Harmony and ArrangingThrArt 220Black Theatre in AmericaPhil 200African Philosophy: Personhood and MoralityPhil 318Race and RacismPhil 337Third world Political PhilosophyPhil 405African Political PhilosophyPolSci. 391The Government and Politics of AfricaPolSci. 486Seminar: Africa and World Politics IPolSci. 487Seminar: Africa and World Politics IIPsych 235Psychology and the African-American ExperienceRelSty. 233Introduction to IslamSociol. L321Racial and Ethnic RelationsSociol. 426The Black FamilyWoSt 340Women in African CulturesWoSt L376Women of Color ATTACHMENT D“It is fitting that a volume of essays on African American Studies should employ in its very title the black vernacular tradition of “signifyin” or “call and response” which informs the black literary tradition. This literary tradition, as Henry Louis Gates states in his seminal work,1 is double-voiced: texts speak to other texts, and are thus “Talking Books.”? The credit for this “signifyin” title goes to my co-editor. Initially the title did not resonate with me until I realized that it “spoke to” a profusion of recent literature about Africana Studies which addresses and/or calls into question the field’s nomenclature, substance, scope, methodology, theory, curriculum and pedagogy.It is important to note the context of this literature. In the past few years, there were many commissioned volumes and conferences on the state of Black Studies as part of the commemoration of its 40th anniversary (1968-2008), i.e., the anniversary of first victories of the student movement and community struggle to establish Black Studies programs and departments in the American academy. This history of Black Studies – including its antecedents in the rich 200-year-old black activist intellectual or black radical tradition, its modern origin in the student movement and black power movement of the sixties, and its various stages of development from protest movement to institutionalization – is well-documented in: the introductory chapters of Abdul Alkalimat’s Introduction to Afro-American Studies and Maulana Karenga’s Introduction to Black Studies; Delores Aldridge and Carlene Young’s edited volume, Out of the? Revolution: The Development of Black Studies; Fabio Rojas’ From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline, and Noliwe Rooks’s White Money/Black Power: The Surprising History of African American Studies. Here we will focus on the current trends of Black Studies as articulated in 40th anniversary literature.Those familiar with this literature will recognize our interrogative title’s allusions to it. This volume is engaged in an ongoing intertextual conversation; it is in dialogue and debate with several texts, but most notably with three volumes: 1) the September 2009 special issue of the Journal of Black Studies, entitled Defining Ourselves: One Name, One Discipline? which includes articles such as Shirley Weber’s “What is in a Name? Addressing the Issues of Program and Curriculum Clarification in Black Studies,” Molefi Asante’s “Africology and the Puzzle of Nomenclature,” and Maulana Karenga’s “Names and Notions of Black Studies: Issues of Roots, Range, and Relevance”; 2) The Handbook of Black Studies (2006), which includes articles such as Ama Mazama’s “Interdisciplinary, Transdisciplinary, or Unidisciplinary? Africana Studies and the Vexing Question of Definition,” and Maulana Karenga’s? “The Field, Function and Future of Africana Studies: Critical Reflection, on Its Mission, Meaning, and Methodology,” as well as an Appendix entitled “The Naming of the Discipline: The Unsettled Discourse,” which listed “representative names of departments and programs dealing with some study of African people,” e.g., Africana Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, Black Studies, Pan African Studies, Africology, Africa and New World Studies, African and African American Studies, Afro-American Studies, etc.; and 3) The African American Studies Reader (2007), which includes contemporary articles as well as reprints of articles from earlier decades which deal with the same issues, e.g., James B. Stewart’s “The Field and Function of Black Studies,” Philip Daniels’ “Black Studies: Discipline or Field of Study” and Donald Henderson’s “What Direction Black Studies?”In terms of the scope of Africana Studies, there are five major models or configurations, although others do exist: 1) national (i.e., blacks in the United States); 2) hemispheric (the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean); 3) continental and hemispheric (Continental Africans as well as the African Diaspora in the Western Hemisphere); 4) global (Continental Africans and the worldwide African Diaspora including blacks in Europe and Asia); and (5) African Diasporan Studies (the global Diaspora minus the continent).There are also issues of focus. For example, in the case of the third configuration above, there is debate over whether equal emphasis should be devoted to each of the three locations and its peoples (the United States, the Western Hemisphere, and continental Africa), or whether the US should be the principal focus as the field is “rooted” in this country. In the fourth model, the peoples of African descent in southern India, Papua New Guinea, and even Australia may be included. Proponents of the first four models, however, are concerned that the increasing rise of the fifth configuration, which omits the African continent, reflects a concerted effort by postmodernists to focus on the dissimilarities of Diasporan communities, their “unstable and floating” identities, and their disconnect with Africa, all of which serve to eviscerate the political objectives of Pan Africanist unity or solidarity.My own predilections are towards the third model, which, while rooted in the struggles of African peoples in the United States, recognizes the increasing presence among them of people of African Caribbean descent (as reflected in the ethnically diverse student bodies of urban universities). The reach of this model is Pan African, as it draws upon rich African continental origins (history and cultures). I call the field Africana Studies and will use this term throughout my paper.2Beyond issues of scope and focus is the effort by some to establish a single hegemonic theoretical framework. This effort is waged by Afrocentrists or, as some have chosen to label themselves, Africologists. While the effort to re-label both the field and its corresponding paradigm as “Africology” has remained marginal (with the significant exception of the University of Wisconsin), efforts to establish a single dominant African-centered paradigm are more widespread. One of the arguments in favor of such a paradigm is that many of the academicians in Africana Studies (especially the older cohort) were trained in outside disciplines such as sociology, political science, English literature, history, etc., whose approach was Eurocentric, i.e., reflecting mainstream white bourgeois social science or humanities orientations (or, for that matter, “standard” white Marxist orientations). Hence these black academicians utilize the same types of paradigms – in which black communities and/or behaviors are presumed to be subcultural, abnormal, exotic, hypersexual, pathological, deficient, based on deficits, underprivileged, deviant, criminal, etc. – that white scholars have utilized for decades when writing about black people.Thus it is not sufficient that Africana Studies is a field of research and scholarship about black people, or even a field by and about black people; it must be a field of research and scholarship for black people, i.e., it must advance their interests and, in order to do so, must be grounded or centered in African experience, perspectives, worldviews, values, norms, etc.; i.e., Africa must be the measure of all things. To that extent, proletarian social science or humanities paradigms do not pass muster either. If African worldviews, cosmologies, ontological outlooks are spiritual, then a materialistic outlook is non-African, not grounded in African culture, and therefore not in the interests of African people.The theoretical perspectives of the Afrocentricists/Africologists and their formidable attempts to attain hegemony over Africana Studies are, in my perspective, the primary concern of this volume. Secondary concerns revolve around the rise of a rival paradigm in Africana Studies, which McClendon has identified as cultural criticism/postmodernism and which other commentators, notably Greg Thomas, have identified as liberal multiculturalism.3 Perhaps neither label alone will suffice, as some of McClendon’s “cultural critics” are adherents to various schools of postmodernism, poststructuralism and? postcolonialism, while others are better described by Thomas’s term multiculturalists. Unlike the Afrocentrists/ Africologists who are concerned with the cultural nationalist principle of kujichagulia or self-determination – “to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves rather than being defined, named, created and spoken for by others”4 – this rival camp of postmodernists and liberal multiculturalists has exhibited little or no concern about a establishing a definitive nomenclature. The most celebrated members of the camp have been identified as “public intellectuals,” yet prominent Afrocentrists function as public intellectuals also, albeit in a black counterpublic rather than in the bourgeois public sphere.5 While McClendon makes a clever bifurcation between “cultural nationalists” (e.g., Afrocentrists) and “cultural critics” (e.g., public intellectuals), this distinction does not capture the ideological differences between the two camps. I suggest that the distinction might be better phrased as a polarity between “cultural nationalists” and “cosmopolitan pluralists.”6Where the cultural nationalists/Afrocentrists pose a cultural grounding or centering in African experience, worldviews and values, the cosmopolitan pluralists emphasize their hybridity as products of a confluence of cultural sources emanating from Europe, Africa and the Americas. Not parochially grounded in Africa, eschewing patriotism or nationalism, they embrace the ideals of membership in both a cosmopolitan or global community and a pluralistic or multicultural American society.A shorthand nomenclature for the two rival camps or schools of thought has been “the Temple school” and “the Harvard school,” as the black studies departments at these two universities have been the rival centers of influence. The original center of the cultural nationalist/Afrocentric paradigm was Temple University where Molefi Asante, the grand doyen – or rather “the paramount chief” – of Afrocentricity initiated the first Ph.D. program in Africana Studies. The center of the cosmopolitan pluralist paradigm was Harvard’s African and African American Studies Department, especially in the heyday of its Dream Team faculty: Henry Louis Gates, Cornel West, Anthony Appiah, et al.7Subsequently, however, there has been a dispersion of both Afrocentrists and cosmopolitan pluralists to a number of universities, resulting in a decentering of influence – such that formal and informal academic networks have greater influence than singular academic institutions. Two formal networks among the Afrocentrists are the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC) and the National Council on Black Studies (NCBS). ASCAC is devoted to Kemetic (Ancient Egyptian) Studies; the NCBS is the professional organization for academics in the field, yet Afrocentrists wield much influence and cosmopolitan pluralists rarely participate.8Indeed, the cosmopolitan pluralists have utilized a very different strategy than that of the Afrocentrists in carving out their own very influential niche in Africana Studies. Afrocentrists have dominated the discourse in the major journals of Africana Studies (e.g., The Journal of Black Studies, the Western Journal of Black Studies), with the exception of The Black Scholar which in its present incarnation maintains a leftist slant.? The public intellectuals and scholars associated with the cosmopolitan pluralist school of thought have access to mainstream intellectual magazines such as Harper’s and Atlantic Monthly and have created a network of black journals such as Transition and Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire. The discourse in these publications consists of cultural criticism/cultural studies and cultural (artistic/literary) expression rather than prosaic scholarship. Although the cosmopolitan pluralists have on occasion made strong and definitive statements about the nature and scope of Africana Studies, they have not – except possibly in the case of AfroDiasporic Studies – mounted a concerted effort like that of the Afrocentrists to define, determine and defend the territory of Africana Studies.” ATTACHMENT EDepartment of Africana StudiesTeaching Evaluation QuestionnaireThe answers that you provide to this questionnaire make a difference. The scores and comments are used to evaluate faculty teaching and course quality in the Department of Africana Studies, and they are taken seriously. Please take a few minutes to answer all questions and to write your personal comments where appropriate. Keep in mind that these arc treated confidentially, so do not put your name anywhere on these forms and rest assured that these scores will not be seen by the instructor until final grades have been turned in.Answer the following questions on the Optical Scan Blue Answer Sheet, use only a #2 pencil and please do not make any stray marks. Blacken the appropriate number for each question, and leave blank any items not applicable to you. DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THIS PAGE BUT DO RETURN IT.**************************************************************************************Evaluating the Course Very Poor Poor Average Good Excellent 1. Lectures clarified or complemented reading materials.123452. The course schedule followed the syllabus fairly closely. 123453. Exams and/or assignments were relevant and fair. 12345 4. The amount reading was reasonable for the course level. 1 23455. Compared to other UMB courses, this one was high quality. 123456. I would recommend this course to a friend. 123457. Overall, how would you evaluate this course?12345Evaluating the Instructor8. The instructor seemed well-prepared for class.123459. The presentation style held my interest during class.1234510. The instructor covered class material at a reasonable speed. 1234511. The instruction was available to students seeking help. 1234512. The instructor was concerned with student progress. 1234·513. The instructor encouraged students to think critically. 1234514. The instructor stimulated my interest in the course topic. 1234515. I received timely, helpful feedback on exams/assignments. 1234516. To the best of my knowledge, the instructor graded fairly. 1234517. The instructor has solid mastery over the course material. 1234518. The instructor encouraged student participation.1 234519. I felt comfortable in the class atmosphere. 1234520. Overall, bow would you evaluate this instructor? 12345COURSE___________S.EMESTER/YEAR____________INSTRUCTOR___________________.ANSWER THE FOLLOWING ON THE BLUE CODE SHEETCompared to other UMB cours.es at the same level (100.200.etc.), the course load was:Very light(2) Light(3) Moderate(4) Heavy(5) Very heavyThe instructor covered the course material at a speed that was:Too slow(2) Somewhat slow(3) Just about right(4) somewhat fast(5) Too fast 23. I attended regular meetings of the course:(1) Always, almost always(2) Frequently (3) Sometimes(4) Infrequently(5) Almost never 24. The grade that I expect to receive in this course is:(1) F (2) D(3) C(4) B(5) A 25. My approximate grade point average is:(1) <1.0(2) 1.0 - 2.0(3) 2.0 - 3.0(4) 3.0 - 4.0My classification, not including the current semester's credits·, is:Freshman(2) Sophomore(3) Junior(4) Senior(5) Graduate/Non-Degree27. My Major, or intended Concentration is:-------------------?**********************************************************************PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN THE SPACES BELOW.What did you think of the instructor's teaching style?What did you like best about the course? What did you like least? How could it be improved?What value did the course have for your personal development, intellectual growth, or general education?Please elaborate on any of your answers to questions 1-27 or make any comments that you do not feel were addressed elsewhere in this teaching evaluation. Use the back of this sheet as needed.Attachment FDepartment of Africana StudiesTeaching Evaluation QuestionnaireThe Answers that you provide to this questionnaire make a difference. The scores and comments are used to evaluate faculty teaching and course quality in the Department of Africana Studies, and they are taken seriously. Please take a few minutes to answer all questions and to write your personal comments where appropriate. Keep in mind that these are treated confidentially, so do not put your name anywhere on these forms and rest assured that these scores will not be seen by the instructor until final grades have been turned in. Answer the following questions on the Optical Scan Blue answer Sheet, use only a #2 pencil, and please do not make any stray marks. Blacken the appropriate number for each question, and leave blank any items not applicable to you. DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THIS PAGE BUT DO RETURN IT. ****************************************************************************Evaluation the Course Very Poor Poor Average Good Excellent 1. Lectures clarified or complemented reading materials. 1 2 3 4 52. The Course schedule followed the syllabus fairly closely. 1 2 3 4 53. Exams and/or assignments were relevant and fair. 1 2 3 4 54. The amount of reading was reasonable for the course level. 1 2 3 4 55. Compared to other UMB courses, this one was high quality. 1 2 3 4 56. I would recommend this course to a friend. 1 2 3 4 57. Overall, how would you evaluate this course? 1 2 3 4 58. Compared to other UMB courses at the same level, the course load was 1 2 3 4 59. The instructor covered the course material at a good speed. 1 2 3 4 5Evaluating the Instructor Very Poor Poor Average Good Excellent 10. The instructor seemed well- prepared for class. 1 2 3 4 511. The presentation style held my interest during class. 1 2 3 4 512. The instructor covered class material at a reasonable speed. 1 2 3 4 513. The instructor was available to students seeking help. 1 2 3 4 514. The instructor was concerned with student progress. 1 2 3 4 515. The instructor encouraged students to think critically. 1 2 3 4 516. The instructor stimulated my interest in the course topic. 1 2 3 4 5 17. I received timely, helpful feedback on exams/ assignments, 1 2 3 4 518. To the best of my knowledge, the instructor graded fairly. 1 2 3 4 519. The instructor has solid mastery over the course material. 1 2 3 4 520. The instructor encouraged student participation. 1 2 3 4 521. I felt comfortable in the class atmosphere. 1 2 3 4 522. Overall, how would you evaluate this instructor? 1 2 3 4 5********************************************************************************************************PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN THE SPACES BELOW.What did you think of the instructors teaching style?What did you like the best about this course? What did you like least? How could it be improved?What value did the course have for your personal development, intellectual growth, or general education?Please elaborate on any of your answers to questions 1-22 or make any comments that you do not feel were addressed elsewhere in this teaching evaluation. (Use the back of sheet if needed). ................
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