The Relentless Pursuit of Discipline: An Africological March Toward Knowledge Liberation

Abstract

In this article, Molefi Kete Asante, the founder of the first PhD program in African American Studies gives a personal account of the aims, objectives, and the challenges he and his principal colleagues faced in the creation of the program. Asante recounts the political and campus cultural climate that helped to facilitate the pursuit. However, the article centers on the pursuit of discipline despite the ever-present attempts to divert the theoretical and methodological direction of the department. Asante saw the creation of the doctorate as the end of the process that was begun by Nathan Hare at San Francisco State University when he created the Department of Black Studies. Temple’s graduation of more than 180 doctorates has established its presence in the Academy as a dominant player in discipline development at the graduate level for Africology.