Black Studies

A Dartmouth College faculty committee last week voted to broaden the Black Studies Program into an Africa and Afro-American Studies Program and recommended the field become a permanent feature of the curriculum.

"Dartmouth has not done as well as we would like in attracting black faculty, which is one of the reasons we want to expand this program," David T. Lindgren, chairman of the Committee on Instruction, which reviews all Dartmouth programs, said Wednesday. The entire faculty will vote on the recommendations in April, he added.

The revised Black Studies Program will include courses on Africa and the West Indies, in addition to the six courses currently offered on the black experience in North America, Judy Byfield, a combined Black Studies and Education major, said this week.

Citing the small size of Dartmouth College as a limiting factor, Lindgren added that there are no plans to make the revised program a full department and allow students to choose Black Studies as their only major.