Jackson says HRDC is thinking about "getting creative" in its fundraising efforts in order to support its growth.
"For me, the funding issue stems around the fact that we have over 700 members, yet we still don't get enough money," Jackson says.
Brustein notes that additional theater space on campus would benefit HRDC, not just the ART.
Yet he says additional space is "a low priority in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which is preoccupied with finding more space for its chemistry department."
Nurturing Talent
Two years ago, in response to what Shaw calls "an unstated aura of threat in the air," HRDC formed a committee of students and ART professionals to review drama at Harvard.
Jackson says the review committee is attempting to find ways for both students and faculty to be satisfied with drama
"I hope that from my classes [my students] willemerge more commited to a fair understanding ofthings," he says, "to learn that the perspective,the values and priorities they grew up with arenot the only tenable ones."
Bobo says he wants to pass on to his students aconviction that scholarship can impact socialissues.
"I hope that I communicate the value ofrigorous social science research to helpilluminate important social processes and issuesthat confront us all," he writes. "[I hope] thatstudents are inspired to think in new and evermore creative ways about the African Americanexperience."
Kilson echoes Bobo's sentiments, saying hebelieves that his students have a moral obligationto help the marginalized sectors of society.
Calling the average income gap in America"morally inconscionable," he says "the top fifthshould take responsibility for the bottom fifth."
Beyond Black History Month
While the importance of African-Americans inthe nation's history is being celebrated thismonth, scholars of Afro-American studies say theywant to promote awareness of black culture andhistory within the community throughout the year.
"There is so much exciting stuff being doneday-to-day in the field," said Adam L. Biggs, ateaching fellow in the Afro-American studiesdepartment. "I celebrate [Black History Month]year-round by virtue of my studies."
Bobo says he hopes to communicate that AfricanAmericans' "struggle against long, hard odds" andtheir successes and achievements "constitutepowerful exemplars of all that it is to be trulyfree and human.