Fabio Rojas, "From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline" (JHU Press, 2010)
About this episode
Fabio Rojas discusses the evolution of Black Studies from the Black Power movement.
The black power movement helped redefine African Americans' identity and establish a new racial consciousness in the 1960s. As an influential political force, this movement in turn spawned the academic discipline known as Black Studies. Today there are more than a hundred Black Studies degree programs in the United States, many of them located in America’s elite research institutions. In From Black Power to Black Studies: How a Radical Social Movement Became an Academic Discipline (JHU Press, 2010), Fabio Rojas explores how this radical social movement evolved into a recognized academic discipline. Rojas traces the evolution of Black Studies over more than three decades, beginning with its origins in black nationalist politics. His account includes the 1968 Third World Strike at San Francisco State College, the Ford Foundation’s attempts to shape the field, and a description of Black Studies programs at various American universities. His statistical analyses of protest data illuminate how violent and nonviolent protests influenced the establishment of Black Studies programs. Integrating personal interviews and newly discovered archival material, Rojas documents how social…
People in this episode
Guest: Fabio Rojas
Topics covered
- Black Power Movement
- Black Studies
- Academic Discipline
- Social Activism
- Higher Education
- Racial Consciousness
Keywords
- Black Power
- Black Studies
- African American identity
- social movement
- academic discipline
- protest data
- organizational change
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: JHU Press
Places: San Francisco State College, United States, America
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