Word: afro
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Catha Worthman '89, a white student majoring in Afro-Am, says she receives a wide range of reactions when she tells people her concentration, "It really varies. The reaction is usually dependent on the person's politics...
Most students who major in Afro-American Studies say that in no way is it less rigorous than other concentrations. Dawkins, however, says that Afro-American concentrators tend to be more relaxed than those in other departments. "They are not really as intense as those in government," she says. "They're more compassionate, especially with the reserve readings, they're never all out at once...
...Having white students in a class about Black issues often brings up topics at a simple level--it makes you look at things from the fundamentals." Citing the integrated population of concentrators, Herron says, "I don't know if it's a Harvard phenomenon or what. But, I think Afro-American studies is exciting and intellectually challenging and I think that everybody is interested...
...white professor in the department, Sollors admits there are some drawbacks to not being Black and an Afro-American expert. "Looking at it [Afro-Am] from the outside, you are particulaly prone to see larger cultural patterns and the connectedness of the fabric of Afro-American life to modern life in general," he says. "But, there is always the fine tuning of the field that becomes most apparent from being a part of Afro-American life, particularly in the realm of literature...
...Afro-Am courses are cross listed under the specific concentrations to which they are related, cross-listed under Afro-Am are several courses that could actually be classified as African Studies, including Religion 1901, "Introduction to African Religions;" Government 1220, "Government and Politics in Africa;" and English 167c, "Black Writing in South Africa." The lack of an African Studies Department at Harvard forces the Afro-Am Department to take the responsiblity for courses relatively unrelated to the Black experience in America...