(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)April 2, 2002

(Mahwah) – Dr. Cornel West, Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. University Professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy of Religion at the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard, will be a keynote speaker at a conference on the State of the African-American Professoriate to be held at Ramapo College of New Jersey April 18 – 20. West, the author of numerous books and articles, is scheduled to speak April 20 at noon in the gym.

Other major speakers include Dr. Sharon Harley, interim director and associate professor of the Afro-American Studies Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, who will speak on “The State of the African-American Professoriate from the Gender Perspective,” and Dustin Washington, director of the Youth Leadership Development Program with the Seattle American Friends Service Committee.

Additional presentations will include the following:

• “Blacks in Africana Studies Programs in Predominantly White Colleges and Universities” – Larwance T. Potter, Western Michigan University
• “Team Mentoring: Faculty of Color in the Academy Intellectual Vocation” – Dr. Shawn C. Worthy
• “In Pursuit of Greatness: The Learning Legacy of African Americans” – Kambon Camara, Bloomsburg University
• “What About the Man-Child – Teen Pregnancy – Who Am I?” – Dr. Stevan Arthur McCrory, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
• “Completion of the Doctorate by Students of Color: A Dream in Progress?” – Dr. Cheryl L. Evans, Bloomfield College (NJ)
• “Self-Esteem in ‘At Risk’ Students (African-American Males in Double Jeopardy” – Dr. Pauline J. Holloway, Oklahoma State University, and Dr. Charolette Myles-Nixon, University of Central Oklahoma
• “African American Historical Research” – Dr. Walter B. Hill, Jr., National Archives and Records Administration
• “Life Among the Aliens: A Mission Report From a Frontline Ranger” – Dr. Deborah H. Barnes, Gettysburg College (PA)
• “A Critical View of the University in Society” – Rudy Hughes, Michigan State University
• “A Comparative Analysis of Hiring, Retention and Promotion Practices Among Minority Faculty in Predominantly White Institution” – Dr. Joseph Dallon, Jr., Ramapo College of New Jersey
• “Transforming the Culture of Teacher Education: African-American Educators in Theory and Practice” – Dr. Carol Maurice McClain, Claflin University (SC)
• “Eliminating Racism in Mathematics Education: Where Do We Go From Here?” – Charles E. Mitchell, Tarleton State University (TX)
• “Special Education: A New Segregation” – Dr. Douglas M. Butler, Prairie View A&M University (TX)
• “The New Challenge of a Black Scholar” – Dr. Earnest N. Bracey, Community College Southern Nevada
• “Examples of Institutional Ineffectiveness at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Consequential Impacts on the Conditions of the African-American Professoriate” – Dr. Marcus E. Jones, Claflin University (SC)

The program on April 18 is geared toward college and university students and includes student panels, student presentations of papers, break-out sessions and the keynote address by Dustin Washington.

There is no charge to attend the talks by West, Hartley and Washington. There is a $100 fee to attend the conference. For more information, contact Dr. Henry Vance Davis, associate professor of history at Ramapo College and conference organizer, (201) 684-7798.

Biographies of Keynote Speakers

Cornel West holds the position of university professor at Harvard University, a title held by only 14 of Harvard’s 2,200 faculty, and is one of the first black scholars to be appointed to the university’s highest faculty post. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chairman of Harvard’s Department of Afro-American Studies, describes West as “one of America’s most important public intellectuals, and a formidable scholar by any measure.”

West is the author of 15 books, including The American Evasion of Philosophy, Jews and Blacks, The Future of the Race and Restoring Hope. His book, Race Matters, quickly achieved best-seller status in both editions and gained the attention of Time magazine and Newsweek, causing both publications to run extensive profile articles on him. The War Against Parents, co-written with Sylvia Ann Hewlett, with whom he co-chairs the National Parenting Association’s Task Force on Parent Empowerment, was published in 1998. Another publication, (written with Roberto Unger), The Future of American Progressivism, teaches how the growing divisions in our society foster the despair and distrust that undermine our democratic process. His most recent publication, The Cornel West Reader, traces the development of West’s career as academic, intellectual and activist. Also recently released is “Sketches of My Culture,” West’s controversial CD.

Sharon Harley is the recipient of numerous scholarships and fellowships, including the Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Rockefeller Fellowship for Minority Group Scholars, the American Association of University Women and the Ford Foundation. She has conducted considerable research in the area of black women’s history, focusing on the history of black wage-earning women and black women’s organizational activities in the District of Columbia. She is the co-editor of the widely-read Afro-American Woman: Struggles and Images and of Women in Africa and the African Diaspora. She has contributed articles to the Journal of Negro History, Women and Work: Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Class, among many other books and journals.

Formerly the associate dean for undergraduate studies at UMCP, she serves as a member of the Maryland Council for the Humanities, consultant to the Office of Equity Assurance and the Office of Staff Development for the Prince George’s County school system and directs the Prince George’s County Teachers Institute in Multiculturalism at the University of Maryland.

In addition to completing a book manuscript, Harley is currently the co-principal investigator of the Ford Foundation-funded “The Meanings and Representations of Work in the Lives of Women of Color,” and principal investigator and project director of the Ford Foundation planning project, “The Center for African-American Women’s Labor Studies.”

Dustin Washington’s work is focused on anti-racist community organizing and developing new leadership for the long-term struggle for social justice. Through Washington’s leadership, the program addresses issues such as racial profiling, militarism, poverty, racism within the educational system and the effects of globalization on the world. He has been a featured speaker at numerous colleges, workshops and events throughout the U.S. He was the recipient of the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Martin Luther King award, for his commitment to social justice and nonviolence.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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