Each morning, the members of Harvard’s African and African American Studies Department pass by Cornel R. West ’74 on the way to their offices on the second floor of the Barker Center. He does not bid them “Good morning,” nor does he offer so much as a wave. He just sits there, day after day, wearing the same black suit and the same intense, intellectual look on his face.

West may have left Harvard for Princeton in 2002 after a bitter public dispute with University President Lawrence H. Summers, but in many ways his presence continues to be felt at the College. The photograph of West—prominently displayed at the department’s office—is only the most conspicuous symbol of this fact.

Since the loss of West and fellow star African American Studies Professor K. Anthony Appiah, who joined West at Princeton last year, the department has had to deal with two opposing forces—a contraction in concentration and class enrollment numbers, and an expansion of the department to include African Studies, which used to be a certificate program. This merger culminated last fall when the African American Studies Department was renamed the African and African American Studies Department.

These changes reflect a department that is emerging from the aftermath of West’s departure and attempting to define itself in a new way by looking to new ways of attracting and educating students.

“It’s a shift away from very visible public intellectuals to very prolific intellectuals who are not necessarily recognizable in a public sphere,” says Glenda R. Carpio, assistant professor of African and African American Studies. “That’s a significant shift, and it’s going to take some time for the number of concentrators to catch up.”

SOUTH AFTER WEST

West’s departure has driven the department’s course enrollment and concentration numbers south.

“In the classroom, Cornel West was the man,” says Department Chair and W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., who is on leave at Princeton this year.

“Nobody replaces Cornel,” Gates adds.

While West taught the introductory course Af-Am 10, “Introduction to Afro-American Studies,” the class saw enrollments of 584 in the 2001 and 316 in 1999. Today, the course enrollment has plummeted to 17 students under the auspices of Professor of Government Michael C. Dawson and Professor of African and African American Studies Evelynn M. Hammonds.

Af-Am 10 is not the only course that has seen a drop in enrollment.

In the 2001-2002 academic year, total undergraduate enrollment in all Af-Am departmental classes peaked at 1,056 students. But in the 2002-2003 school year, enrollment dropped precipitously to 337 students, a decline of 719 students. This year, enrollment stood at 305 students—a drop of about 70 percent over two years.

But Gates notes that there are high enrollments in courses in the Core and in other departments that are cross-listed with the Af-Am department.

The department has also seen a significant decline in the number of concentrators. In the 1997-1998 academic year, Af-Am had 34 concentrators, and 21 concentrators in West’s last year, 2001-2002. This year, that number has dwindled to 11—down from 17 last year.

But Carpio says she feels that the declines in class enrollments and concentrators are coming to an end.