After teaching in the English department at the University of Kansas, Dr. Gary Holcomb began teaching African-American literature last week in Ohio University's Department of African American Studies.
Even though those two disciplines may seem different, Holcomb said he feels like he has a lot in common with others in African American Studies.
It's exciting to work with people whose scholarship is in hip-hop (or) law ... sociology or history
said Holcomb, associate professor of African American literature. It makes for a stimulating environment...to see African American literary studies as it traverses other disciplines.
It's the interdisciplinary aspect of the department that makes it a great academic choice for students of all races, said Dr. Akil Houston, an assistant professor in the department.
The department specializes in six main academic areas, including pre-law, public policy and social change, social and family life, Africana cinema and visual aesthetics, literature and history. Students can declare African American Studies as a major or minor, or simply take classes within the department.
The uniqueness of the discipline gives (students) insight and focus that may not be available in other disciplines said Houston, who teaches the popular Black Media course.
According to a recent article from the Times of Trenton, Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton University's chair of the Center for African American Studies said that it's not just identity studies for African-American students. Instead, the objective of the center is to produce students who recognize that they live in a diverse world.
The Department of African American Studies at OU is no different, said associate professor and department chair Ronald Stephens.
The Multicultural Center to me
is the meeting place ... we aren't set up for that kind of arrangement here
Stephens said. We are no different from any other academic department.
In fact, Stephens said that of the 35 students who take his introductory class, five are African-American. This is in part due to the relatively small black student population on campus, he added.
As of fall 2008, 4.9 percent of enrolled students were African-American, an increase from 3.2 percent in fall 2002.
We're in the business of educating minds and creating change agents ... I can't control what people's perceptions are
but what I can do is enlighten people
Stephens said, adding that in the year-and-a-half he's been here, he has not seen and would not tolerate discriminatory opinions about the department.
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Culture
Emma Morehart
