How did Black Studies emerge? How is it related to other disciplines in the liberal arts?

On March 31st, 2023, we celebrated nearly three years of work on the Anti-Racism and the Disciplines initiative with a final symposium that brought together the scholars who taught us so much throughout the series. On that day, Dr. Hortense Spillers delivered a truly remarkable keynote address. This bonus episode features the remarkable keynote address she delivered that day.

In her talk titled "Black Studies and the Human Sciences: A Handful of Observations," Hortense Spillers weaves together personal narrative with intellectual history to tell the story of how Black Studies came to be. Emerging in the 1960s, Black Studies is not only a culmination of anti-racist efforts but also what she calls “the practice of anti-racism, at least in theory.” It was a moment when, as she puts it, a “street movement transformed into a curricular object.”

Host: Brian Edwards

Producers: Gabriela Garcia Mayes and Billy Saas

Music: Cory Diane

What is the relationship between literacy and the current political polarization in the United States? How has the English major changed since the early 1970s? And how can we be less pessimistic about the future? Join host Dean Brian Edwards and Hortense J. Spillers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English and Distinguished Research Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University, as they discuss these questions and more in this episode of Anti-Racism and the Disciplines.

Timestamps:

• [01:22 - 06:06] How is literacy the central problem in the United States today?

• [06:06 - 16:05] What are the problems with what college students are learning today?

• [16:05 - 19:55] What do literary studies teach students that other majors don't?

• [19:55 - 26:32] What is the history of the English major and departments?

• [26:32 - 31:09] What is the status of the English major and departments today? What are some of the challenges they face?

• [31:09 - 36:26] How can we move beyond Afro-pessimism and open up the future?

Host: Brian T. Edwards

Executive Producer: Gabriela Garcia Mayes

Music: Cory Diane

Production Assistant: Maggie Green

What do people study in political science? Why is it called a “science”? And how was an African American central to the most important work in political science in the pre-Civil Rights era? Join host Dean Brian Edwards and Alvin B. Tillery, Jr., Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University, as they discuss these questions and more in this episode of Anti-Racism and the Disciplines.

Timestamps:

• [00:55 - 03:46] What is political science?

• [03:46 - 06:43] Why is political science called a "science"?

• [06:43 - 12:00] What is the relationship between political science, race, and racism?

• [12:00 - 13:26] How do race and racism structure political science?

• [13:26 - 15:50] Who were Ralph Bunche and Gunnar Myrdal? How are they important to political science?

• [15:50 - 21:31] What does re-examining the racist history of political science look like?

• [21:31 - 25:13] What does anti-racism mean in political science?

• [25:13 - 28:00] What makes a political science approach to Twitter and Black Lives Matter different from a communication studies approach?

• [28:00 - 31:59] What is Tillery's view of the Black Lives Matter social movement?

Host: Brian T. Edwards

Executive Producer: Gabriela Garcia Mayes

Music: Cory Diane

Production Assistant: Maggie Green