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The essence of freedom is unders tan din g
Black Student Movement Official Newspaper
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Vol. XV, No. 4
November 5, 1984
1 1 Reagan's Central
American
Policies Endanger Blacks
pg. 3
1 1 Edmisten and Martin
Fight For
Black Vote
pg. 5
1 1 Bubbling Brown Sugar' Review
pg. 7
Blacks Studies
Department
Continues To
Grow in 80s
by Joy Thompson
StafI Writer
Born during the 1960s as an
answer to student demands for Black
experience college courses, African
and Afro-American Studies has
become one of the fastest growing
curriculums on the UNC-CH campus.
Currently housed in Alumi Hall,
the African and Afro-American
studies programs have only recently
been combined.
"We proudly proclaim that we
are one of the biggest (curriculums)
at the University," said Dr. Colin
Palmer, head of the curriculum since
1980.
"We are teaching 710 students
just for fall semester," he said. That's
three times the number of students
taking African and Afro-American
curriculum courses in the academic
year 1979-1980.
Palmer said more than 1,000
students participated in the cur
riculum last year and more than a
fourth of them were white. ''We've
been able to attract a sizable popula
tion of white students," he asserted,
"and I hope this number will in
crease."
The curriculum's growth is
somewhat surprising in comparison to
other North Carolina Universities'
Black studies departments. Most of
those have seen declines in program
enrollment.
However, Palmer attributed his
program's success to a number of
things.
"I think we have some very effec
tive teachers," he said. The cur
riculum has also been fair to students
while being challenging. "We're not
offering any slide courses," he said.
"The percentage of A's and B's we
award is well below the University
average."
Dr. J. Lee Greene, a professor in
the English department and former
acting chairman of the Afro-
American curriculum, said Universi
ty support was important also.
Greene said, "I think as University
support continues, the (program's)
growth will also continue."
Palmer said: "The University has
to...allocate resources accordingly.
It must take hold of this growth and
expand support or else the program
will diminish."
For example, some classes have
more than 200 students, he said.
Classes can't get any larger, so with
University help, more professors and
teaching assistants could be hired.
The University has responded by
creating two new positions in the cur
riculum, according to Stephen Bird-
sall, associate dean of Arts and
Sciences. "We felt the curriculum
was doing its job, and with the
tremendous growth in enrollment, it
was something we had to attend to
through additional resources."
"We've also committed ourselves
to the renovation of the office space in
Alumni Hall to accomodate addi
tional faculty and to better suit the ac
tivities of the curriculum," Birdsall
said. Although details have yet to be
worked out by the University, he
maintained that the project had "high
priority."
Greene said, "the college and
the chancellor together are providing
financial support for a new
bibliographical project.. .to develop a
computerized research tool about
Afro-American life and history." The
bibliographical guide to Afro-
Americana was the idea of the Black
Staff and Faculty Caucus and is ex
pected to be completed in 1985 or
1986.
In addition, the curriculum is
looking to other departments for
resources. Palmer said, "We now
have resources to purchase the time
of other individuals from other
departments...we can utilize the ex
pertise of a broader range of faculty
members." Greene, Darnell
Hawkins, an associate professor from
Photo by: Denise Moultrie
Fine For Days!
Tamara McDowell, Debra Terry and Jeaneatte
Everette show their stuff at "Fall Fashion 84." The
fashion show, sponsored by the Mu Zeta Chapter of
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., featured models
from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, The Ladies of Black and Gold and
the Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity on Oct.
26 in Great Hall.
the sociology department, and
Thomas Q. Reefe, a professor from
the history department, currently
work with the curriculum.
Five new courses have been add
ed to the curriculum: Black Women
in America, Black Political Thought,
Black Nationalism in the Americas,
Black Aesthetics, and Gender, Race
and Class in Afro-American History.
Three new sections of The Black Ex
perience (AFAM 40) have been add
ed also because of the course's
popularity.
Palmer pointed out that the
courses can fill a General College re
quirement and are attracting students
from across the campus.
The African and Afro-American
curriculum also has a culture series
associated with it. Herman Bennett, a
junior from Hanau, Germany, is the
new series coordinator and has
scheduled things from poetry
readings by Black faculty members
and students to a panel discussion on
the 1984 elections.