Office Location
Forest Drive Building
Room #1116
PO Box 8049
Phone: 912-681-5387
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| The National Council for Black Studies
(NCBS) |
The Organization
The National Council for Black Studies (NCBS), was established in 1975
by African Americans scholars who recognized the need to formalize the
study of the African World experience, as well as expand and strengthen
academic units and community programs devoted to this endeavor. NCBS was
formed in 1975 out of the substantial need for a national stabilizing
force in the developing discipline of Africana/Black Studies. The roots
of NCBS run deep in the evolutionary growth of the discipline of Africana
Studies since the organization was formed only seven years after the establishment
of the first Black Studies Program in the United States. Today, the purpose
of the NCBS is multidimensional, and the scope of its functioning is quite
broad. As an academic organization excellence and social responsibility.
For over two decades, American education has been profoundly affected
by the emergence of Africana/Black Studies. Theimpact on the broader educational
establishment is due to the holistic and metadisciplinary approach taken
by Africana Studies.Its challenge and to traditional scholarship and its
regard for social responsibility in its content and application. Growing
fundamentally out of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, Africana/Black
Studies has become the intellectual extension of that movement. From a
holistic approach to the subject matter, Africana/Black Studies scholars
have engaged in the meticulousexamination of the global experience of
peoples of African descent.
In support of this activity, at least one organization has worked toward
the development of the Africana/Black Studies as a discipline from kindergarten
to graduate school. That organization is our National Council for Black
Studies, Inc. (NCBS). Today, NCBS steadfastly works to:
- Establish standards of excellence and provide development guidance
fro Black Studies programs in institutions of higher education.
- Facilitate through consultations and other services, the recruitment
of Black Scholars for all levels of teachings and research in universities
and colleges.
- Assist in the creation and implementation of multicultural education
programs and materials for K-12 schools and higher education institutions.
- Promote scholarly African-centered research on all aspects of the
African World experience.
- Increase and improve informational resources on Pan African life and
culture to be made available to the general public.
- Provide professional advice to policy makers in education, government
and community development.
Maintain international linkages among Africana Studies scholars.
NCBS’s national and international organizational activities
encompasses the following:
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| International Journal of African Studies |
NCBS publishes a professional refereed journal dedicated to scholarship
and research in African Studies. The
journal formerly known as The Afrocentric Scholars was renamed The International
Journal of Africana Studies in 1995. This journal is dedicated to the
global advancement of research and scholarship within the discipline and
has published scholarly articles from scholars all over the world. |
| The Voice of Black Studies |
| This is the official newsletter of NCBS. The newsletter serves to highlight NCBS’s organized achievements and the achievements of its members,
and institutional members. The Voice is provided as a service to members
and runs a section on employment opportunities in the field. The Voice
also carries advertisements on conferences, and academic programs which
are of interest to the membership of NCBS. |
| Conference Procedures |
| The Annual Conference Proceedings makes available up-to-date research
and scholarship presented at NCBS conferences to researchers in the field,
and to the general public |
| NCBS Publishing House |
| In !995, the NCBS Board has established an in-house publications agenda
and appointed Dr. Diedre Badejo, Professor of Pan-African Studies at Kent
State University, Ohio as the General Editor of NCBS publications. The
Publishing House is slated to commission top-notch scholars to author
much-needed textbooks for use at the K-12 level, undergraduate, and graduate
students. It is also anticipated that with the Publishing House in place, NCBS will now be able to commission important research projects encompassing
African World Peoples. Partnership with various established publishing
agencies are under consideration. |
| Summer Institutes |
| Since 1990, NCBS has organized Summer Institutes for Africana Studies
scholars who are teaching, or contemplating teaching in Africana Studies
Programs. The aim of the Summer Institute is to bring young scholars (who
are actually trained outside of the discipline) together with established
seniors scholars to explore cutting-edge intellectual issues in the field.
These institutes have been very useful in building a cadre of scholars
who are exploring new and exciting research paradigms, and networking
with each other through NCBS’s Summer Institute Alumni Network.
Since 1993, the Summer Institute has been held in Accra, Ghana in collaboration
with the University of Ghana, Legon. Many of these alumni have become
active members, and in some cases, board members of NCBS. |
| Administrative Institute |
| The Annual Africana Studies Administrative Institute provide new Africana
Studies Department Chairs and Program Directors with an outstanding of
the particulars of administering Africana/Black Studies programs within
predominantly white institutions. However, over the years the institute
has proved very useful fro administrators from historically black institutions.
In addition to a rigorous examination of the basic philosophical and bureaucratic
challenges that confront the leadership of the discipline, attention is
paid to issues such as sexual harassment, affirmative action, and other
matters that contemporary administrators have to understand. |
| Academic Symposia and Mini Conferences |
| NCBS has recently initiated the practice of holding symposia and mini
conferences in conjunction with interested member institutions and departments,
focusing on important issues and concerns that are central to the mission
of NCBS. IN 1995, a mini conference was held at Temple University in Philadelphia
on curriculum development for K-1, undergraduate, and graduate education.
There are plans in 1997 for symposia on Technology and Distant Learning
and Ebonics and Social Class. NCBS co-sponsored with California State
University’s Center for African American Educational Excellence,
a conference on The State of African American Education in November 1996. |
| African Language Institute |
| Aware of the difficulties associated with the teaching of African Language
on college campuses in the United States and other parts of the African
World, NCBS is negotiating with the University of Ghana to establish an
African Language Institute in Ghana where students from all over the African
World can receive the intensive language training. It is anticipated that
the Institute can begin its work by summer 1998. |
| The Curriculum Project |
| Since 1985, NCBS has been very active in the development of a meaningful
and holistic Africana Studies curriculum for the departments in the United
States and other parts of the world. The Africana Studies Holistic Curriculum
Model was developed by a National Curriculum Committee which was chaired
by Dr. William Little. The model established new curricular standards
for undergraduate programs and there is ongoing consultation with educators
at all levels to establish standards for K-12 and for graduate studies. |
| Program Evaluation |
| To ensure that academic programs are of a quality and standard that is
acceptable and in line with advancements in the discipline. NCBS provides
program evaluation services to colleges and universities. Evaluation is
carried out by reputable scholars who have been involved in the development
of the discipline. Beginning in 1997, the organization will be carrying
out a comprehensive review and ranking of all Africana Studies programs
in the United States. |
| International Linkages |
The organization is actively committed t the creation and maintenance
of a worldwide forum fro the advancement of knowledge on and about the
history, culture, welfare, and life possibilities of people of African
descent. To that end, NCBS endeavors to keep scholars from all across
the Diaspora in touch with each other. NCBS is recognized worldwide as
a primary forum for the internationally acclaimed scholars, researchers,
community leaders (within and outside of the discipline milieu) to share
information, form network, and create strategies for the development of
Africana Studies as an integral and viable entity in American education
and in curricula all over the world. The organization now has representation
and/or offices in Ghana, Guyana. The United Kingdom, and South Africa.
By striving to achieve its primary goals of defining, promoting, and
enriching research and instruction in Black/ Africana Studies, the organization
has become a vehicle for advancing the knowledge on, and about the history,
lives culture, and life possibilities of people of the African World.
In doing so, it seeks to affect public policy int he United States and
thus, contribute to the liberation of people of the African descent throughout
Africa and the Diaspora. |
| Membership |
| NCBS has over 250 colleges, universities, school districts, and community
organizations who subscribe as “institutional” members, and
about 2000 professional, student, and community members. |
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