1 - 3 of 3
Number of results to display per page

Harvard: Where do we go from here?, Part 1

Description: Originally broadcast as a WGBH news special, this tape was later used as source material for Ten O'Clock News stories. Roger Fisher moderates discussion among students, administrators, faculty about student strike at Harvard over ROTC, Afro-American studies, expansion into Boston and Cambridge. Louis Lyons starts by reading the news from Harvard. Participants include Jim Kiernan, a WGBH consultant; Brey O'Connell, a member of the Committee for Radical Structural Reform; Richard Rubinowitz, a representative of Harvard New College; Hugh Calkins, a member of the Harvard Corporation; and Norman Daniels, a member of the Strike Committee and of the Student for a Democratic Society. First segment of the program provides some radical Harvard students the opportunity to speak to a member of the Harvard Corporation. Another students, King Collins, starts using explicit language, and the audio was cut during the original broadcast. Much argument over who has right to speak. reel 1 of 2.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 04/17/1969

Harvard: Where do we go from here?, Part 2

Description: Part of this tape is a repeat of the end of Part 1. Originally broadcast as a WGBH news special, this tape was later used as source material for Ten O'Clock News stories. Roger Fisher moderates discussion among students, administrators, faculty about student strike at Harvard over ROTC, Afro-American studies, expansion into Boston and Cambridge. Participants include Jim Kiernan, a WGBH consultant; Brey O'Connell, a member of the Committee for Radical Structural Reform; Richard Rubinowitz, a representative of Harvard New College; Hugh Calkins, a member of the Harvard Corporation; and Norman Daniels, a member of the Strike Committee and of the Student for a Democratic Society. Several other students join in the conversation. Much argument over who has right to speak. Professors James Ackerman and Jerome Bruner join the table. Fisher tries to define points of contention. reel 2 of 2.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 04/17/1969

African American Studies in college

Description: Carmen Fields reports on differing opinions of the African American studies program at Harvard University. Interviews with Harvard professors Harvey Mansfield and Orlando Patterson. Mansfield says that conservative scholars are excluded from the African American studies program at Harvard. He adds that the program is too political and not concerned enough with the study of the African American experience. Mansfield calls African American studies an "advocacy major" which promotes a certain point of view. Patterson notes that many academic departments are too political. He adds that history and English departments also often teach history from only one perspective. Patterson says that African American studies offers an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of one area of life. Patterson discusses his concerns over the lack of African American scholars entering academia. Fields's report is accompanied by footage of the Harvard campus and footage of students in a class taught by Derrick Bell at the Harvard Law School.
1:00:05: Carmen Fields reports that Harvey Mansfield (professor, Harvard University) has been a professor of government at Harvard University since 1965; that Orlando Patterson (professor, Harvard University) has been a professor of sociology at Harvard since 1970. Fields says that both men believe that students should learn about the African American experience; that Mansfield is critical of how it has been taught. V: Shots of Mansfield; of Patterson; of Harvard students in a lecture hall. Footage of Mansfield being interviewed by Fields. Mansfield says that teaching on the African American experience has been politicized; that teaching on the African American experience has been forced to be "politically correct." Mansfield says that the Afro-American Department at Harvard is too concerned with questions of power and the status of African Americans at Harvard; that the Afro-American Department is not concerned enough with the black experience in America. Shots of Harvard students in a lecture hall. Fields reports that Mansfield believes that African American Studies departments have lost sight of the richness and diversity of the African American experience. Fields reports that Mansfield believes that "leftists" and "liberals" are encouraged in the departments; that Mansfield believes that African American conservatives are ignored. V: Footage of Mansfield being interviewed by Jones. Mansfield says that African American conservatives are not welcomed by the Afro-American Department at Harvard. Mansfield says that the limited scope of the department has a bad effect on the university. Shot of Harvard Yard through one of the gates. Fields reports that Mansfield believes that African American studies departments turn academics into activism. Fields reports that Mansfield says that African American Studies departments and Women's Studies departments design their majors to promote particular points of view. V: Shot through an iron gate of the window to a classroom. Footage of Mansfield being interviewed. Mansfield says that "advocacy majors" promote certain points of view. Mansfield says that the classes for these majors presuppose a certain viewpoint; that questions are not raised; that professors address a "rally" of like-minded people. Footage of Patterson being interviewed. Patterson says that many history and English departments contain like-minded professors and like-minded students; that many of these departments take a narrow view of their subject. Patterson says that American history was taught in a narrow way until the 1960s and 1970s; that history and English are still taught in a narrow way in some places. Fields reports that Patterson agrees that overly politicized departments are a problem; that Patterson is more worried about a lack of African American scholars. Fields reports that there has been a decline in African American scholars since the late 1960s. V: Shot of Derrick Bell (Professor, Harvard Law School) teaching a class at Harvard Law School in December of 1990. Shots of the students in Bell's class. Footage of Patterson being interviewed. Patterson says that he is concerned about the low numbers of African American students entering graduate schools in all areas. Patterson says that the African American culture does not have an "intellectual tradition." Patterson says that African American culture has made major contributions to American life. Fields reports that African American Studies departments may encourage more African American students to pursue higher education in a variety of fields. V: Shots of students on the Harvard campus; of Bell teaching a class; of an African American female student in Bell's class. Footage of Patterson saying that African American Studies offers an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of a particular area of life.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 02/27/1991