Encyclopedia of Black Studies
- Molefi Kete Asante - Temple University, USA, Associate Professor, School of Journalism & Communication, University of Queensland
- Ama Mazama - Temple University, USA
Black Studies
More than a chronicle of black culture or black people, this encyclopedia deals with the emergence and maturity of an intellectual field over the past four decades. Beginning with the protests at San Francisco State College in 1967 that led to the first degree-granting department of Black Studies, the field's rapid growth over time necessitates an authoritative account of the discipline. More than ever scholars and students need a clear conception of what the evolutionary processes have been in the creation and maintenance of the discipline.
Key Features:
Over 240 signed articles by nearly 200 scholars, organized A to Z, with coverage spanning the social sciences
Edited by the founder and current editor of the Journal of Black Studies
Reader's Guide facilitates browsing by topic and easy access to information
Contains numerous illustrative charts, sidebars, and historical photographs
Appendices with listings of doctoral granting programs, major journals in the field, and professional and scholarly associations
Master Bibliography
Topics Covered
• Afrocentricity
• Annual Conferences
• Anti-Racism
• Arts
• Associations and Organizations
• Books
• Campus Politics
• Civil Rights
• Classical Africa
• Concepts
• Culture
• Departmental Histories
• Films
• Intellectual Schools
• Institutions
• Journals
• Legal Issues
• Movements
• Newspapers
• Political Issues
• Professional Organizations
• Publishers
• Racism
• Religion
• Reparations
• Research Centers
• Resistance
• Theories
• United States Constitution
"The book has an explanatory preface and excellent introduction that summarizes black studies for those unfamiliar with the field. Most of the articles provide a short bibliography of further reading for those seeking more in-depth knowledge. ...This is a required text for large public libraries and all academic libraries. It provides a thorough understanding of and easy reference into a growing, dynamic field of study."
"Asante and the group originally centered at Temple University are credited with formalizing the discipline of Black Studies in the United States and make up most of the authors of this volume."
"Black studies has long needed this work to deflect and answer questions from critics and supporters. The editors set out to establish a baseline for understanding the field, to try in a work admittedly in progress to define the most commonly used ideas and concepts. . . . This work can be particularly helpful to scholars in tangentially related fields, helping them to know how black studies specialists define certain terms and concepts."
Asante offers students and educators an alternative perspective to the Eurocentric approach of the traditional college curriculum. Instead of interpreting social, political, historical and religious phenomena through the lenses of Western eyes, Afrocentricity seeks to identify the African place in such events. Emphasizing symbols, motifs, rituals and signs, this theory celebrates African cultural elements in all areas of life. . . . this formulation of the central ideas of an important group of scholars will be a valuable addition to many academic collections.
