By Kerry Laird
PVAMU
Prairie View A&M University Director and Associate Professor of African American Studies Dr. Jeanelle Hope recently garnered significant recognition for her innovative work in African American Studies and interdisciplinary research.
Dr. Hope has been awarded grants from both the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies. Through the ACLS award, PVAMU also receives an extra grant to help develop programming.
“From day one in my role as Director of African American Studies, one of my central goals has been to ensure our program is well-funded and supported,” said Dr. Hope.
Building the Humanities
For Dr. Hope, receiving a grant from one of the foremost funders of humanities research and programs feels especially rewarding and affirming, given her position as a scholar within the humanities.
At $150,000, the NEH grant will help support a two-year project designed to develop faculty, curriculum and other resources for a humanities-centered African American Studies program.
Titled “Deepening African American Studies Curriculum and Faculty Development,” the project seeks to introduce additional, innovative courses such as “Introduction to Pan Africanism,” “Black Speculative Fiction,” and “African American Foodways and Food Justice.”
Working in collaboration with PVAMU professors Dr. Farrah Cambrice, associate professor of sociology, Dr. Marco Robinson, associate professor of history and assistant director of the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice, and Dr. Elizabeth Whittington, assistant professor of communication, Dr. Hope aims to broaden the program’s scope through the creation of new courses and instructional materials, enhancing the offerings from the Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences.
“We are hoping to build a study abroad component into one of the courses,” said Dr. Hope. “Additionally, we aim to develop course readers for existing core African American studies courses like ‘AFAM 1301: Race, Class, and Gender in America’ to allow for greater continuity in instruction.”
In addition, the added courses, such as those on African American foodways and Pan-Africanism, will cover both history and culture. The funding will help foster a deeper intellectual community for faculty working on the project, said Dr. Hope.
Afro-Asian Impacts
Building on her graduate school research in Afro-Asian solidarity in the San Francisco Bay area, Dr. Hope’s second project, funded by ACLS, delves into the dynamic lives of Reverend Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani within the context of Afro-Asian activism and Third World liberation theology at Glide Memorial Church.
Titled “In Love, Celebration, and Solidarity: Janice Mirikitani & Cecil Williams’ Afro-Asian Activism and Practice of Third World Liberation Theology at Glide Memorial Church,” this political biography explores the intertwined narratives of love, activism, and solidarity.
“Growing up in Oakland at the intersection of Black and Asian American communities, I have long been interested in Black-Asian relations, activism, and shared politics,” said Dr. Hope. “Much of my earlier research wrestles with these topics, and I am excited to be able to write a biographical work that contends with the history of Afro-Asian solidarity via the lives and marriage of Janice Mirikitani and Cecil Williams.”
Through meticulous research and analysis, Dr. Hope illuminates the enduring commitment of Williams and Mirikitani to marginalized communities, particularly Black and Asian Americans in San Francisco. This project underscores the intimate connections between personal relationships and broader social movements, emphasizing the “intimacies of solidarity-building.”
The ACLS HBCU Faculty Fellowship and Grant Program was crafted in collaboration with faculty and academic leaders from HBCUs through a series of on-campus workshops, discussions, and virtual focus groups.
Each recipient receives $10,000 to bolster the early-stage development of projects and undertake shorter-term endeavors. Additionally, all recipients will gain entry to networking opportunities and scholarly programming tailored to their academic aspirations and institutional settings.
As part of the award package, ACLS allocates an extra grant of $2,500 to the recipient’s home institution to fortify humanities programming or enhance infrastructure.
“Funding will be used to support faculty via summer salary and stipends for writing instructional materials like the course reader,” said Dr. Hope.
Inspiration in Action
In her role as Director of African American Studies at PVAMU, Dr. Hope envisions these projects as pivotal contributions to the academic landscape and the understanding of African American history and culture.
The NEH grant not only facilitates the expansion of course offerings but also fosters a vibrant intellectual community among faculty members. Furthermore, the grants signal a significant milestone for the African American Studies Department at PVAMU, affirming its dedication to scholarly excellence and community engagement.
Dr. Hope’s remarkable achievements underscore PVAMU’s commitment to excellence in scholarship and its dedication to fostering interdisciplinary research that resonates beyond the confines of academia. As her projects unfold, they promise to enrich scholarly discourse, deepen the understanding of historical narratives, and inspire future generations of scholars and activists.
“It is important that we continue to build upon the momentum developed over the last five years in building out African American Studies at PVAMU, and receiving external funding helps us further that work that was championed by President [Ruth J.] Simmons and Dr. [Melanye] Price,” said Dr. Hope.
