African-American studies
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| - | "More than one ethnographer has reported the experience of showing a clear photograph of a house, a person, a familiar landscape to people living in a culture innocent of any knowledge of photography, and to have the picture held at all possible angles, or turned over for inspection of its blank back, as the native tried to interpret this meaningless arrangement of varying shades of gray on a piece of paper." --[[Melville J. Herskovits]], ''[[Man and His Works]]'', Alfred A.Knopf, 1948, p.381. | ||
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| + | '''African-American Studies''' is an interdisciplinary [[academic field]] devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of Black Americans. Taken broadly, the field studies not only the cultures of people of African descent in the United States, but the cultures of the entire [[African diaspora]] but it has been defined in different ways. The field includes scholars of [[African-American literature]], history, politics, religion and [[religious studies]], [[sociology]], and many other disciplines within the [[humanities]] and [[social science]]s. | ||
| - | '''Melville Jean Herskovits''' (September 10, 1895 – February 25, 1963) was an American [[anthropology|anthropologist]] who firmly established [[African studies|African]] and [[African-American studies]] in American [[academia]]. He is known for exploring the cultural continuity from African cultures as expressed in African-American communities. He worked with his wife Frances (Shapiro) Herskovits, also an anthropologist, in the field in South America, the Caribbean and Africa. They jointly wrote several books and monographs together. | + | Intensive academic efforts to reconstruct African-American history began in the late 19th century ([[W. E. B. Du Bois]], ''[[The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America]]''[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/0/17700/17700-h/17700-h.htm], 1896). Among the pioneers in the first half of the 20th century were [[Carter G. Woodson]], [[Herbert Aptheker]], [[Melville Herskovits]], and [[Lorenzo Dow Turner]]. |
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| - | He also helped forge the concept of [[cultural relativism]], particularly in his book ''Man and His Works.'' | + | |
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| - | ==Legacy and honors== | + | |
| - | *The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University was named in his honor; it is based on his collection of materials as chairman of the department. | + | |
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| - | == Works == | + | |
| - | * ''The Cattle Complex in East Africa'', PhD Dissertation, 1923 (published as a book in 1926) | + | |
| - | * "The Negro's Americanism", in [[Alain Locke]] (ed.), ''[[The New Negro]]'', 1925 | + | |
| - | * ''The American Negro'', 1928 | + | |
| - | * ''Rebel Destiny, Among the Bush Negroes of Dutch Guiana'', 1934, with Frances Herskovits | + | |
| - | * ''Suriname Folk Lore,'' 1936, with Frances Herskovits | + | |
| - | * ''Life in a Haitian Valley'', 1937 | + | |
| - | * ''Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom'' (2 vols), 1938 | + | |
| - | * ''Economic Life of Primitive People'', 1940 | + | |
| - | * ''The Myth of the Negro Past'', 1941 | + | |
| - | * ''Trinidad Village'', 1947, with Frances Herskovits | + | |
| - | * ''Man and His Works: The Science of Cultural Anthropology'', 1948 | + | |
| - | * ''"Les bases de L'Anthropologie Culturelle",'' Payot, Paris, 1952 | + | |
| - | * ''Dahomean Narrative: A Cross-Cultural Analysis'', 1958, with Frances Herskovits | + | |
| - | * ''Continuity and Change in African Culture'', 1959 | + | |
| - | * ''The Human Factor in Changing Africa'', 1962 | + | |
| - | * ''Economic Transition in Africa'', 1964 | + | |
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| - | ==Further reading== | + | |
| - | * Alan P. Merriam, ''Melville Jean Herskovits, 1895-1963'', ''American Anthropologist'', Vol. 66, No. 1, 1964, p. 83-109. | + | |
| - | * Jerry Gershenhorn: ''Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge'' (2004). ISBN 0-8032-2187-8. | + | |
| - | * Samuel J. Redman. Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 2016. | + | |
| + | Programs and departments of African-American studies were first created in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of inter-ethnic student and faculty activism at many universities, sparked by a five-month strike for black studies at [[San Francisco State University|San Francisco State]]. In February 1968, San Francisco State hired [[sociology|sociologist]] [[Nathan Hare]] to coordinate the first black studies program and write a proposal for the first Department of Black Studies; the department was created in September 1968 and gained official status at the end of the five-months strike in the spring of 1969. The creation of programs and departments in Black studies was a common demand of protests and [[sit-in]]s by minority students and their allies, who felt that their cultures and interests were underserved by the traditional academic structures. | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[Black Feminism]] | ||
| + | * [[Black matriarchy]] | ||
| + | * [[Black Womanism]] | ||
| + | * [[Religion in Black America]] | ||
| + | '''Non-African-American specific:''' | ||
| + | * [[Pan-African studies]] | ||
| + | * [[African studies]] | ||
| + | * [[Ethnic Studies]] | ||
| + | * [[Asian American Studies]] | ||
| + | * [[Chicano Studies]] | ||
| + | * [[Native American Studies]] | ||
| + | * [[Africana Studies]] | ||
| + | * [[Afro-Latino Studies]] | ||
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African-American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of Black Americans. Taken broadly, the field studies not only the cultures of people of African descent in the United States, but the cultures of the entire African diaspora but it has been defined in different ways. The field includes scholars of African-American literature, history, politics, religion and religious studies, sociology, and many other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences.
Intensive academic efforts to reconstruct African-American history began in the late 19th century (W. E. B. Du Bois, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America[1], 1896). Among the pioneers in the first half of the 20th century were Carter G. Woodson, Herbert Aptheker, Melville Herskovits, and Lorenzo Dow Turner.
Programs and departments of African-American studies were first created in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of inter-ethnic student and faculty activism at many universities, sparked by a five-month strike for black studies at San Francisco State. In February 1968, San Francisco State hired sociologist Nathan Hare to coordinate the first black studies program and write a proposal for the first Department of Black Studies; the department was created in September 1968 and gained official status at the end of the five-months strike in the spring of 1969. The creation of programs and departments in Black studies was a common demand of protests and sit-ins by minority students and their allies, who felt that their cultures and interests were underserved by the traditional academic structures.
See also
Non-African-American specific:
- Pan-African studies
- African studies
- Ethnic Studies
- Asian American Studies
- Chicano Studies
- Native American Studies
- Africana Studies
- Afro-Latino Studies
