Black studies as an agent of social change on the structural level at selected colleges and universities.

摘要

In a relatively short period of time American higher education has witnessed the development of numerous black studies programs and departments. These new academic endeavors have been instrumental in producing structural changes in the institutions of higher education. Recently higher education has attempted to assess the progress of black studies programs and departments within their structures. This has been done with some attempt to assess the past of black studies as well as project the future of black studies within higher education.Due to the hurried developmental process of black studies programs, which led to the establishment of black studies on campuses which were not prepared for such an innovation, several problems have arisen.The purposes of this thesis are (1) to study the precipitating events which led to a change in the academic structure of higher education (black studies); (2) to examine the developmental process of black studies; (3) to make some predictions about the future of black studies in higher education.The case study method was used to examine four contrasting types of educational institutions in the state of Oregon: Reed College, Linfield College, Portland State University, and the University of Oregon. Two are small, two rather large; two are in a large metropolitan area, two in smaller cities; two are public, two are private.The findings indicate that although stages in the developmental process were similar on the campuses, local conditions are important in explaining the distinctive types of black studies programs on each campus.