Northwestern has engaged in a bidding war for high-profile faculty members. Two years ago, the university lured Dr. Darlene Clark Hine, one of the nation’s most prominent Black historians, to its campus. Faculty from Northwestern and other Chicago-area institutions, like DePaul University and the University of Chicago, will participate in the doctoral program.
Some conservative intellectuals, like Shelby Steele of the Hoover Institution, have questioned the validity of Black studies program and have argued that they have become too activist-oriented and lack a rigorous pedagogical approach.
Iton scoffs at such criticism.
“Scholars working in this highly interdisciplinary field have done a lot of path-breaking scholarly work in history, the humanities and the social sciences,” he says. “Academic programs are not graded on their activist commitments, and African-American studies is not much different in that regard.”
Columbia University plans to expand its existing master’s program into a doctoral program within the next few years.
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