Suchergebnisse

Colonization, enslavement, and institutionalized oppression have disrupted the relationship between the educational experiences of Black students and the fate of African/Black communities. Research has shown that Africana studies has demonstrated the capacity to realign the education of Black students in higher education, leading to the advancement of communities of African descent. This analysis aims to present Africana studies catalytic consciousness theory as a framework for determining the effects of taking Africana studies classes on students who self-identify as being of African descent on college and university campuses—particularly at institutions where they are underrepresented. The main elements of the effects of Africana studies are illustrated through the lens of the Dagara cosmic wheel and its elements: fire, water, earth, mineral/stone, and nature/vegetation.

The current intellectual and political climate dictates a need for an empirically driven trajectory for the discipline of African American studies. An African-centered worldview in concert with a theoretical research framework to guide Africana studies scholars' use of social science research methods is what is presented in this work. In the 21st century, the unique interests of African-descended people are best served by the empirical approach, specifically when legislative bodies and social service providers require data-based solutions to social problems. Applied Africana Studies is a theoretical framework that guides the production of scholarship that is both centered and relevant to the needs and interests of people of African descent. In some quarters, the empirical method is dismissed because of its disproportionate use by non-African researchers and their politically driven agendas against the interests of African people. To address this, the training of African-centered empirical practitioners who hold the terminal degree in African American studies is an absolute imperative to advance African development on African terms in the 21st century.

This study is an investigation of how Black faculty, staff, administration, and students relate to one another at an institution of higher education, and how their campus experiences diverge and converge. Twenty-one focus group interviews were conducted with 26 Black students, 18 Black faculty members, and 17 Black staff members and administrators. The objective was to contribute knowledge that could lead to more informed service, teaching, support, administration, and leadership on the Black campus and in the university. Several themes were discovered in the analysis, resulting in the identification of key challenges faced by the Black campus, the solutions respondents perceived as promising, and the supports they benefit.