Despite Struggles, Pioneering Black Studies Department Presses Forward: Since completing his Ph.D. in African American studies at Temple University in 1998 and joining the Howard University Afro-American studies department in 2001, Dr. Greg Carr has helped steer about a dozen Howard students to Temple's graduate program in African American studies. Carr's advocacy underscores his conviction that the Black studies program at Temple remains among the best in the academy.
'What students have at Temple is the ability to extend themselves intellectually and the space to pursue the development of the discipline,' Carr says.
At San Diego State University, Dr. Adisa Alkebulan, a Ph.D. alumnus of Temple's African American studies department, has also advised and steered students to the Temple program. But in recent years he has grown hesitant to do so because he believes the department's leadership has not fought for a coherent and sustainable vision for Black studies that ensures respect and adequate institutional support for students and faculty.
