black studies

Edwards, Erica R., Roderick A. Ferguson, and Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar. Introduction. Keywords for African American Studies. Ed. Edwards, Ferguson, and Ogbar. New York: New York UP, 2018. 1–7.
Kelley, Robin D. G. “Black Study, Black Struggle.” Boston Review. Boston Review, 1 Mar. 2016. Web.
Goals
In our first week together, we discussed the history and (un)discipline of Black studies. From Erica R. Edwards, Roderick A. Ferguson, and Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, we learned that “since the establishment on college campuses, beginning in the late 1960s, of formal departments devoted to study of Black life, African American studies—a name that we are using as a shorthand to refer to the disparate formations devoted to the study of Black culture and society . . . —has persistently disrupted traditional categories and modes of academic knowledge” (6). That is to say, Edwards, Ferguson, and Ogbar point out that Black studies is in some ways an (un)discipline, a way of thinking that directly counters thinking other disciplines promote. And from Robin D. G. Kelley, we learned that, although Black studies “was conceived not just outside the university but in opposition to a Eurocentric university culture with ties to corporate and military power,” unfortunately, in the last few decades, Black studies has become “incorporated into the university proper in response to pressure to embrace multiculturalism.” Kelley asks contemporary Black studies students to counter this trend by finding subversive ways of “being in but not of the university. . . to think together, to plan in undisciplined assembly.”
In this assignment, close read one to two passages from the works listed above in order to answer the questions: What is Black studies? How do we do Black studies work in the academy? Close reading involves carefully interpreting a short passage of text by paying particular attention to formal elements like word choice, syntax, and the development of ideas. What do these texts suggest Black studies work is, and how do they suggest we do it? How might you extend, complicate, or counter their ideas to chart a path for your own Black study this semester?
Your argument should be specific, debatable, and meaningful and should be proven by close analysis of at least one but no more than two passages from the works listed above. If needed, you may use the Oxford English Dictionary to explain the meaning of the readings’ particular word choices. Otherwise, you should not use any other resources to complete this assignment.

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