This blog seeks to look at events thru the perspective of Black people. We seek the Nguzo Saba 365/7 on on our blog. Please be active as a villager by using the COMMENT OPTION on blog posts, Subscribe to our blog, introduce yourself or view our most popular posts!
Showing posts with label Harvard University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harvard University. Show all posts
We celebrate the fact W.E.B. DuBois was born on this date in 1868. He was an African American sociologist and one of the most important Black protest leaders in the United States during the first half of the 20th century.
W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt) DuBois was born in Great Barrington, MA. He graduated from Fisk University in 1888. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895. His doctoral dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was published in 1896. Although DuBois took an advanced degree in history, he was broadly trained in the social sciences; and at a time when sociologists were theorizing about race relations, he was conducting inquiries into the condition of Blacks.
DuBois died on August 27, 1963 in Accra, Ghana. His autobiography was published in 1968. Click here to see directory of books by and about DuBois.
Often you can tell a lot about a person today by looking at how the person was 'back in the day'. For example, we can look at Mitt Romney in this photo with his Bain partners from 'back in the day' and it is obvious that he has an obsession for money.
On the other hand, we can tell an awful lot about President Barack Obama by listening to him in this 1990 video as he speaks (without a teleprompter) in support of Professor Derek Bell and the hiring of more faculty members of color at Harvard University. [SOURCE]
This blog is committed to sharing good news about people of African descent each and every Tuesday ... we call it Good News Tuesday and I wish that other bloggers would join this weekly meme!
Dr. Walton is a Social ethicist and African American religious studies scholar. He is currently an assistant professor of religious studies at my alma mater (University of California, Riverside). His research addresses the intersections among religion, politics, and popular culture.
"Harvard Divinity School is among the premier centers of theological education and hubs of academic inquiry," Walton said. "I am honored and humbled to join such an amazing scholarly community, particularly since HDS has a proven track record of neither resting on its reputation nor being lulled asleep by its laurels. Its continued commitment to recruiting and cultivating cutting-edge scholars of religion in general, and of American religion in particular, makes it the place I want to be."
Walton's scholarly work is grounded in the progressive strand of the African American religious tradition and informed by the creative potentiality and rhythmic sensibility of hip-hop culture. His first book, Watch This! The Ethics and Aesthetics of African American Religious Broadcasting, is an important intervention into the study of African American and American religion. As he explains, those working on Christian religious broadcasting have given little attention to the phenomenon outside of white, conservative, evangelical communities, while Black liberation theologians have yet to give careful attention to televisual representation as a site of theological production.
"Jonathan Walton thinks historically, ethically, and theologically," said Amy Hollywood, Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies at HDS, who chaired the faculty search committee." His intellectual range, his energy, and the interdisciplinary nature of his work on African American religions make him uniquely suited to HDS and to the University as a whole."
Drawing on British cultural studies, Walton explores the interrelationship between the media used by African American megachurches and the theologies thereby conveyed. He argues for forms of theological innovation within the productions of black televangelism that are enabled-perhaps even generated-by the media that televangalists use, and he asks what the implications are for black theology and the study of African American religion when one attends to these particular forms of religious and theological expression.
"He is an exciting young scholar whose field work with contemporary religious communities will bring an added dimension to our course offerings and faculty coverage here at HDS and at Harvard more broadly," said Dean William A. Graham. "I feel strongly that with this appointment, together with that of Mayra Rivera Rivera, Assistant Professor of Theology and Latina/o Studies, who will also begin her work at HDS on July 1, we are now well staffed in two important areas that we have wanted covered for some time."
Trained as a social ethicist, Walton earned his PhD in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary. He also holds a master of divinity degree from Princeton Seminary as well as a BA in political science from Morehouse College in Atlanta. His insights and reflections concerning the intersections of religion, culture, and society have been noted in numerous prominent news media outlets, such as CNN, The New York Times, Time magazine, and NPR.
"I look forward to this challenge," Walton said of his appointment to HDS, "Just as I look forward to contributing to the intellectual, spiritual, and familial climate on campus."
We celebrate the fact W.E.B. DuBois was born on this date in 1868. He was an African American sociologist and one of the most important Black protest leaders in the United States during the first half of the 20th century.
