Black Studies Scholarly Communication

Abstract

Because there is a rift among Black Studies thinkers concerning whether the field should both embrace scholarship and activism, the present work considers whether information transfer between the different intellectual camps exists. Using citation analysis and ideas such as “boundary crossing” and “borrowing” to describe relations relevant to interdisciplinary information transfer, it is argued that there are reciprocal patterns of communication between the two intellectual camps. However, because writings of an activist nature by Black Studies thinkers in traditional disciplines are repressed, these elements of their writings are forced to resurface outside the academic mainstream.

Key Words:

• Citation analysis
• black studies
• colleges and universities
• activism
• collection development