Scholarly Projects Relating to Black History or Minorities

Home: Snapshot: Scholarly Projects

The following presents just a few examples of academic work conducted by the University of Arkansas relating to black history, minorities, or African American studies.

Production is under way of a documentary about the life of Silas Hunt by University of Arkansas Center for Continuing Education.

UA associate professor of history Charles Robinson publishes “Dangerous Liaisons: Sex and Love in the Segregated South”

Judith Kilpatrick, UA law professor, has written a pictorial history of “Arkansas’ Early African American Lawyers,” published an article, “(EXTRA)Ordinary Men: African American Lawyers and Civil Rights in Arkansas Before 1950,” and is currently writing a biography of Wiley Austin Branton.

David Chappell, associate professor of history, has researched and written on topics relating to American civil rights and segregation in the South and published titles such as: “A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow,” and “Inside Agitators: White Southerners in the Civil Rights Movement.”

Yvette Murphy, in J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences School of Social Work, has conducted research on African American grandmothers raising their grandchildren.

Fredrick Nafukho’s research in the College of Education and Health Professions department of rehabilitation, human resources and communication disorders focuses on adult education in Africa.

The College of Education and Health Professions Rehabilitation Center in Little Rock obtained significant grant funding for a study about the needs of deaf minorities.

Jungmin Lee, a Sam M. Walton College of Business labor economist, studied data from Nielsen Media Research ratings of “American Idol.” He found strong evidence of same-race preferences among viewers for show participants. The study is part of a large body of research that demonstrates how preference based on race affects economic and labor markets.

Researchers in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences – Brinck Kerr, Will Miller, Margaret Reid, and William Schreckhise from the department of political science – studied the distribution of African Americans in administrative jobs in municipal government agencies from 1987 through 2001. The resulting paper they published, “If Politics Matters, When Does It Matter? Re-examining the Determinants of African American Municipal Employment Patterns,” recently won the 2006 Jewel Prestage Award for the best paper on race, ethnicity, gender, and political behavior from the Southwest Political Science Association.

Darell Fields, a UA associate professor with a joint appointment in architecture and African American studies, organized a lecture series titled “Unnatural Violence: Urbanism in the Aftermath of Katrina.” The lectures examined whether New Orleans should rebuild in low-lying areas, many of them historically African American neighborhoods. Fields will also be the editor of Apx, an interdisciplinary journal presenting criticism, scholarship, and creative activity related to African American architecture.