With financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, an anonymous donor and an eligible university match, Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) is set to revamp its curriculum with a new African-American Studies Initiative.
Funding totaling $1 million will support the launch of the project “Enhancing the Humanities at PVAMU through an African-American Studies Program Initiative,” which will infuse African-American Studies content throughout liberal arts offerings and also allow the university to work towards the creation of a formal African-American Studies Program, officials said.
Efforts to launch the new initiative “was a culmination of a lot of hard work, but really the visionary foundation of [President] Ruth Simmons to say that this is essential, given the political climate that we’re in, and African-American students really should know more about their history and legacy,” said Dr. James A. Wilson, Jr., associate provost for academic affairs at Prairie View A&M. “For a campus that was once a slave plantation, that is a significant contribution to the intellectual climate of the university.”
Wilson, a trained historian, added that while PVAMU is known for its programs in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the latest financial gifts and grants for the African-American Studies Initiative – $500,000 from the Mellon Foundation, $250,000 from the anonymous donor and an eligible $250,000 university match – will balance the “intellectual focus” of the university so that students have an opportunity to write, read and work from a broader context that humanities can offer.
Throughout the summer, Wilson worked with interim provost Dr. James M. Palmer and Dr. Danny R. Kelley, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, to brainstorm ideas and identify notable scholars in African-American Studies for a planned symposium about the new initiative.
“We’re bringing scholars like Henry Louis Gates and Cornel West throughout this year and next year,” Wilson said. “We’re bringing people to get everyone excited about the study of African-American Studies.”
Additional consultants PVAMU will bring in for the initiative include Dr. Melanye Price, associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University; Dr. Nell Irvin Painter, the Edwards Professor of American History Emerita at Princeton University; Dr. Paula J. Giddings, the Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor Emerita of Africana Studies at Smith College; and Dr. W. Gabriel Selassie I, the Ralph Bunche Associate Professor of History and Religion at Los Angeles City College.
