“We are establishing a strong international component because we believe you can’t have this conversation without these other voices,” Grim says. “It’s not enough for us to read about those experiences. We need to have people in our program who have lived those experiences.”
Doctoral students may also have the opportunity to write what McCluskey calls “a creative dissertation.” Master’s students in the department have already written (or are writing) creative theses with an essay that accompanies a creative aspect — plays, novels or a collection of short stories.
“Because we have such a strong creative writing program, fine arts program and theater program, it would be possible — not that anybody would or could do it — but we would encourage those students with those creative gifts to be able to write a creative dissertation,” McCluskey says. “That is a reflection of what we’ve done at the master’s level.”
The faculty are probably scattered and haven’t been able to celebrate because they are researching and writing, as this very productive group of 15 professors has published 10 books in the last two years. And this production of knowledge on African people must continue, Martin says. That’s why he’s so excited about the new program.
“It’s at the Ph.D. level that one can reproduce themselves and the work that they do,” he says. “This is an opportunity for AAADS at Bloomington to bring in a group of young graduate students whom we can train in the field and whom will become the next generation of scholars in Black studies.”
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