Black Pioneers in Communication Research

Black Pioneers in Communication Research is a pathbreaking book that displays a refreshingly joyful and critical spirit. Here communication theory is shown to be the work of real persons living real lives asking real questions of real problems.  By celebrating and evaluating the lives of Black scholars as they have sought to advance communication studies readers are introduced to perhaps the first truly foundational text our field has to offer! By tracing pioneers′ life histories up to their current contributions to the field of communication students will not simply be exposed to a concept and its definition but rather invited to explore the evolution of both the concept and its progenitor. This illuminates and enlivens the study of communication while helping readers to be conscious of the conditions that have helped to shape our current state of knowledge. Black Pioneers in Communication Research is fully edifying: It lifts all communication scholars higher by being courageous enough to teach us as intellectuals that when we lay bare some of the intricacies of our lives our students are better able to understand the complex canvases upon which our paradigms are built. --Eric King Watts Wake Forest UniversityBlack Pioneers in Communication Research is the only book in the field of communication that―through personal interviews―systematically explores the lives careers and profound conceptual contributions of the men and women who have helped shape the contours of humanistic and social scientific inquiry within communication studies and beyond.    The personal lives and careers of eleven leading scholars are profiled: Molefi Kete Asante Donald E. Bogle Hallie Quinn Brown Melbourne S. Cummings Jack L. Daniel Oscar H. Gandy Jr. Stuart Hall Marsha Houston Joni L. Jones/Iya Omi Osun Olomo Dorthy L. Pennington and Orlando L. Taylor. These pioneers have had an indelible impact on Black Studies sociology communication political science film studies rhetoric sociolinguistics and cultural studies.    Black Pioneers in Communication Research presents a penetrating look into the circumstances that shifted the paradigms of interdisciplinary thought.  Some of the concepts covered in this book are afrocentricity articulation theory aphasia oral performance and interpretation womanism Black English Black oral traditions the TrEE communication development model chronemics as well as the mammy buck mulatto coon and Uncle Tom images in film and television. Intended Audience:This is an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses dealing with African American communication and/or communication research (such as intercultural communication African American communication African American studies African American rhetoric communication research and communication theory~