Author Description

"Creating Community explores how faculty members at Alabama State University, a historically black university in Montgomery, have been inspired by African American culture and the legacy of the civil rights movement. It also examines how they interpret and extend that inspiration through teaching, scholarship, and service. The contributors to the volume describe a wide range of experiences from the era of segregation to the present day. These include accounts of growing up and going to college in Alabama, arriving in the South for the first time to teach at ASU, and the development of programs such as the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African American Culture. Together, the essays present viewpoints that reflect the diverse ethnic, cultural, and academic backgrounds of the contributors and of the university." "Creating Community is informed by the awareness that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have responded in significant ways to social changes of the past generation, and it addresses questions about the role of the black university in contemporary society. In this way, it offers readers the opportunity to understand how issues of diversity, identity, multiculturalism, and race impact Alabama State University in particular and HBCUs in general."--Jacket.