Each morning, the members of Harvard's African and African American Studies Department pass by Cornel R. West '74 on the way to their offices on the second floor of the Barker Center. He does not bid them "Good morning," nor does he offer so much as a wave. He just sits there, day after day, wearing the same black suit and the same intense, intellectual look on his face.
West may have left Harvard for Princeton in 2002 after a bitter public dispute with University President Lawrence H. Summers, but in many ways his presence continues to be felt at the College. The photograph of West—prominently displayed at the department’s office—is only the most conspicuous symbol of this fact.
Since the loss of West and fellow star African American Studies Professor K. Anthony Appiah, who joined West at Princeton last year, the department has had to deal with two opposing forces—a contraction in concentration and class enrollment numbers, and an expansion of the department to include African Studies, which used to be a certificate program. This merger culminated last fall when the African American Studies Department was renamed the African and African American Studies Department.
These changes reflect a department that is emerging from the aftermath of West's departure and attempting to define itself in a new way by looking to new ways of attracting and educating students.
"It's a shift away from very visible public intellectuals to very prolific intellectuals who are not necessarily recognizable in a public sphere," says Glenda R. Carpio, assistant professor of African and African American Studies.
"That's a significant shift, and it’s going to take some time for the number of concentrators to catch up."
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