Barbara Christian and the Futures of Black Studies
The Barbara Christian Futures of Black Studies Panel discussion featured scholars from across the country, all UC Berkeley alumni. Part of a larger project to amplify the interdisciplinary, political and world-building work of Black Studies, this first session honors Professor Barbara Christian, the first Black woman to achieve tenure at UC Berkeley and the first to be recognized with the Distinguished Teaching Award. In the year of her passing, (2000) Professor Christian was awarded UC Berkeley’s highest honor, the Berkeley Citation. Presenters: Fred Moten is a Professor in the Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU; 2020 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow; UCB Ph.D. Rhetoric. Lisa Ze Winters is Associate Professor of African American Studies and English, Wayne State University, UCB Ph.D. African American Studies. Arlene Keizer is Professor and Chair of Humanities & Media Studies, Pratt Institute; UCB Ph.D. English. Xavier Livermon is Associate Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, UCSC; UCB Ph.D. African American Studies. Ula Yvette Taylor is Professor & H. Michael and Jeanne Williams Department Chair, UC Berkeley Department of African American Studies. Arlene Kaizer is Professor and Chair of Humanities & Media Studies, Pratt Institute; UCB Ph.D. English. About Professor Barbara Christian The author and editor of several books and almost 100 published articles and reviews, Christian was best known for her landmark study, "Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition," which appeared in 1980 following the rediscovery of the work of important women writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larsen. She was among the first scholars to focus national attention on such major writers as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. Christian received a doctorate from Columbia University in 1970. A year later, she was appointed to Berkeley as an assistant professor. Previously, she had spent six years as an activist and teacher at New York's City College. At Berkeley, Christian soon became central in establishing the African American Studies department, where she taught from 1972 until her death. She served as chairwoman of that department from 1978 until 1983 and went on to chair the campus's new Ethnic Studies doctoral program from 1986 to 1989. Christian was the first Black woman at Berkeley to be granted tenure (1978), the first to receive the campus's Distinguished Teaching Award (1991), and the first to be promoted to full professor (1986). In 2000, the year of her passing, she was awarded Berkeley's highest honor, the Berkeley Citation.
The Barbara Christian Futures of Black Studies Panel discussion featured scholars from across the country, all UC Berkeley alumni. Part of a larger project to amplify the interdisciplinary, political and world-building work of Black Studies, this first session honors Professor Barbara Christian, the first Black woman to achieve tenure at UC Berkeley and the first to be recognized with the Distinguished Teaching Award. In the year of her passing, (2000) Professor Christian was awarded UC Berkeley’s highest honor, the Berkeley Citation. Presenters: Fred Moten is a Professor in the Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU; 2020 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow; UCB Ph.D. Rhetoric. Lisa Ze Winters is Associate Professor of African American Studies and English, Wayne State University, UCB Ph.D. African American Studies. Arlene Keizer is Professor and Chair of Humanities & Media Studies, Pratt Institute; UCB Ph.D. English. Xavier Livermon is Associate Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, UCSC; UCB Ph.D. African American Studies. Ula Yvette Taylor is Professor & H. Michael and Jeanne Williams Department Chair, UC Berkeley Department of African American Studies. Arlene Kaizer is Professor and Chair of Humanities & Media Studies, Pratt Institute; UCB Ph.D. English. About Professor Barbara Christian The author and editor of several books and almost 100 published articles and reviews, Christian was best known for her landmark study, "Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition," which appeared in 1980 following the rediscovery of the work of important women writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larsen. She was among the first scholars to focus national attention on such major writers as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. Christian received a doctorate from Columbia University in 1970. A year later, she was appointed to Berkeley as an assistant professor. Previously, she had spent six years as an activist and teacher at New York's City College. At Berkeley, Christian soon became central in establishing the African American Studies department, where she taught from 1972 until her death. She served as chairwoman of that department from 1978 until 1983 and went on to chair the campus's new Ethnic Studies doctoral program from 1986 to 1989. Christian was the first Black woman at Berkeley to be granted tenure (1978), the first to receive the campus's Distinguished Teaching Award (1991), and the first to be promoted to full professor (1986). In 2000, the year of her passing, she was awarded Berkeley's highest honor, the Berkeley Citation.