News
New Chair Announced for W.E.B. Du Bois
Department of Afro-American StudiesThe W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies has a new chair as of July 1. Amilcar Shabazz succeeded Professor Esther M. A. Terry, who headed the department for the past 19 years along with Associate Chair Ernest Allen Jr. Shabazz brings with him a wealth of knowledge gained from work pioneering the development of Africana Studies programs at The University of Alabama and Oklahoma State University. After receiving his B.A. in 1982 from the University of Texas at Austin, Shabazz pursued graduate study at Lamar University (M.A.) and at the University of Houston (Ph.D.). He holds degrees in economics and history with a strong focus on African, African American and Latin American studies. Shabazz is the author of Advancing Democracy: African Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in Higher Education in Texas (2004), and is a co-editor of a book on reparations as well as a new volume, Women & Others: Perspectives on Race, Gender, and Empire, due to appear in print this fall. He has been named a Fulbright Senior Specialist for the 2004-2009 period and has carried out educational work in Brazil, Japan, Ghana, Mali, and Jamaica, among other countries. He is also an active volunteer with many not-for-profit cultural, community and professional organizations.Esther Terry, Associate Chancellor and outgoing department chair, comments: “Our department is entering a new phase of qualitative development with a number of key announcements expected during the coming academic year in terms of faculty activity and partnership links. Shabazz’s experience is the perfect fit for us and we look forward to many productive years ahead.” The W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies is one of the largest such departments in the country, offering an undergraduate major and a highly selective doctoral program that seeks to reproduce both the scholarship and the social commitment of the great Massachusetts-born intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois. Growing out of the work of a committee composed of graduate students and faculty almost forty years ago, in 1996 the Du Bois Department launched its Ph.D. program. Although not the first to graduate, this past May nine men and women from the Du Bois Department were awarded their doctorates at the UMass Amherst Commencement. Among the nine were five black men and two black women – the largest group of black candidates to receive the Ph.D. from a single department in the history of the University. June 28, 2007 modified
Department of Afro-American StudiesThe W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies has a new chair as of July 1. Amilcar Shabazz succeeded Professor Esther M. A. Terry, who headed the department for the past 19 years along with Associate Chair Ernest Allen Jr. Shabazz brings with him a wealth of knowledge gained from work pioneering the development of Africana Studies programs at The University of Alabama and Oklahoma State University. After receiving his B.A. in 1982 from the University of Texas at Austin, Shabazz pursued graduate study at Lamar University (M.A.) and at the University of Houston (Ph.D.). He holds degrees in economics and history with a strong focus on African, African American and Latin American studies. Shabazz is the author of Advancing Democracy: African Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in Higher Education in Texas (2004), and is a co-editor of a book on reparations as well as a new volume, Women & Others: Perspectives on Race, Gender, and Empire, due to appear in print this fall. He has been named a Fulbright Senior Specialist for the 2004-2009 period and has carried out educational work in Brazil, Japan, Ghana, Mali, and Jamaica, among other countries. He is also an active volunteer with many not-for-profit cultural, community and professional organizations.Esther Terry, Associate Chancellor and outgoing department chair, comments: “Our department is entering a new phase of qualitative development with a number of key announcements expected during the coming academic year in terms of faculty activity and partnership links. Shabazz’s experience is the perfect fit for us and we look forward to many productive years ahead.” The W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies is one of the largest such departments in the country, offering an undergraduate major and a highly selective doctoral program that seeks to reproduce both the scholarship and the social commitment of the great Massachusetts-born intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois. Growing out of the work of a committee composed of graduate students and faculty almost forty years ago, in 1996 the Du Bois Department launched its Ph.D. program. Although not the first to graduate, this past May nine men and women from the Du Bois Department were awarded their doctorates at the UMass Amherst Commencement. Among the nine were five black men and two black women – the largest group of black candidates to receive the Ph.D. from a single department in the history of the University. June 28, 2007 modified
Nine Afro-American Studies Doctoral Candidates
March at UMass Commencement on May 25th
Nine men and women who have earned doctorates in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies this year marched on May 25th at the UMass Amherst Commencement. Among the nine were five Black men and two Black women – the largest group of Black candidates to receive the Ph D from a single department in the history of the University and very possibly the largest number from one department at any university in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The nine honorees were Michael Forbes, Lloren A. Foster, Ousmane Power-Greene, Rita Reynolds, Andrew Rosa, Lindsey Swindall, William S. Tkweme, Paul Udofia, and Angelica Whitmal.The UMass Afro-American Studies doctoral program is the second oldest in the United States, having been launched in 1996. Since that time, twenty men and women, including the nine this year, have earned doctorates. Well over half of all the doctorates awarded to African-American candidates in the Faculty of Humanities and Fine Arts of UMass over the past six years have come from the Afro-American Studies Department. This year’s candidates will be going on to a variety of research and teaching positions. Michael Forbes will take up a post-graduate fellowship at DePauw University. Rita Reynolds will participate in a NEH-sponsored seminar, "Public History: South Carolina as a Case Study," at the University of South Carolina Columbia this summer. Lindsey Swindall has accepted an Assistant Professorship in the History department of Franklin College (Indiana). W.S. Tkweme has secured a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville, where he has been teaching this past year. Lloren A. Foster, currently teaching at Hampton University, will continue with the rank of Assistant Professor of English, and Andrew Rosa will continue as Assistant Professor of History at Oklahoma State University. Finally, Ousmane Power-Greene will take up an Assistant Professorship in History at Clark University next Fall.
( Modified 05/03/2007)
March at UMass Commencement on May 25th
Nine men and women who have earned doctorates in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies this year marched on May 25th at the UMass Amherst Commencement. Among the nine were five Black men and two Black women – the largest group of Black candidates to receive the Ph D from a single department in the history of the University and very possibly the largest number from one department at any university in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The nine honorees were Michael Forbes, Lloren A. Foster, Ousmane Power-Greene, Rita Reynolds, Andrew Rosa, Lindsey Swindall, William S. Tkweme, Paul Udofia, and Angelica Whitmal.The UMass Afro-American Studies doctoral program is the second oldest in the United States, having been launched in 1996. Since that time, twenty men and women, including the nine this year, have earned doctorates. Well over half of all the doctorates awarded to African-American candidates in the Faculty of Humanities and Fine Arts of UMass over the past six years have come from the Afro-American Studies Department. This year’s candidates will be going on to a variety of research and teaching positions. Michael Forbes will take up a post-graduate fellowship at DePauw University. Rita Reynolds will participate in a NEH-sponsored seminar, "Public History: South Carolina as a Case Study," at the University of South Carolina Columbia this summer. Lindsey Swindall has accepted an Assistant Professorship in the History department of Franklin College (Indiana). W.S. Tkweme has secured a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville, where he has been teaching this past year. Lloren A. Foster, currently teaching at Hampton University, will continue with the rank of Assistant Professor of English, and Andrew Rosa will continue as Assistant Professor of History at Oklahoma State University. Finally, Ousmane Power-Greene will take up an Assistant Professorship in History at Clark University next Fall.
( Modified 05/03/2007)