Professor Karanja Carroll invites you to consider this 2010 talk “What is Black Studies?”  (2010), archived in Baruch’s Digital Media Library by Dr. Greg Kimathi Carr (Associate Professor & Chair of Afro American Studies at Howard University).  It explores what Africana/Black Studies is not. This is a purposeful investigation of the roles of labeling and mislabeling the life experiences of African descended people within academia. Dr. Carr stresses that Africana/Black Studies cannot be looked at as a discipline based solely off of subject matter.  Rather he argues that Africana/Black Studies must be understood as an academic discipline with its own theories, methodologies and modes of discover.  Thus Africana/Black Studies is not merely the study of African descended people and their experiences. In fact it is a particular type study through varied perspectives. Furthermore, Africana/Black Studies has never been concerned with knowledge for knowledge sake, but rather it is concerned with the production of knowledge in order to contribute to a better understand of our ever-changing world.

• Why is it important to be clear on what Africana/Black Studies is not?
• What is the relationship between teaching and the advancement of Africana/Black Studies?
• Why must we not limit Africana/Black Studies to the United States and the sole experiences of African Americans?
• How does Africana/Black Studies attempt to develop a critical interpretation of the experiences of African descended people and their place within the world?
• How does Africana/Black Studies contribute to developing an accurate understanding of the past and present?