To Make Our World Anew: A History of African Americans, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a mini research project on Bowie State University and analyze it has evolved over time in addition to the contributions of this prestigious institution to Maryland. The school was founded amidst a turbulent epoch in which racial tensions continued to divide the nation even at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 (Kelley & Lewis, 2000). Today, the school touts itself as a higher education institution that instills in its educators to be, “Effective, caring, and collaborative educators for a truly global society” (BOWIE State University College of Education, 2012). This paper will examine the values of the school and how the institution was shaped and developed as a result of epochal contingencies and the changing nature of pedagogy in higher education. As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, the student body has reflect general national trends

History and context

Bowie State University will celebrate its 150-year history in 2015 as an institution that has provided access to a superb education and boasts its academic excellence. This celebration will underscore how BSU has profoundly impacted the history and development of Maryland as a state. It transformed from a “normal school teaching the elements of education” to the African-American citizens who had at the founding of this school been denied access to public education due to how entrenched structural and institutional racism was during the nineteenth century after slavery had been officially abolished in 1865 (BSU, 2015). Bowie State University represents an node of the first school that was founded in Maryland in the city of Baltimore at the behest of the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of Colored People on December 15, 1864. The objective of this initial educational institution was to engage in its mission to provide African Americans and other members of subaltern communities who were denied access to public education on the basis of their race with educational opportunities. As such, its progenitor founded BSU to provide a corrective to state failings in how Black citizens were treated as a result of how ideas about race had real, material consequences on those rendered peripheral to the modal subject. Not surprising, the this institution lacked adequate infrastructure and resources to truly make an enduring impact at the outset.

Profile of the institution

In 1970, Bowie State College (what BSU was called prior to a name change in subsequent decades) witnessed the creation of its first graduate degree program in the Master of Education program. The most seminal milestone in the development of graduate programs transpired when the Board of Trustees approved the creation of the Adler-Dreikurs Institute of Human Relations in 1975. Today, BSU is characterized as a liberal arts university that provides students with a nurturing learning experience that embraces a holistic approach to pedagogy in order to push students to think outside the box. The primary goal of the university today is to prepare its graduates to make positive and meaningful contributions once they graduate. The university currently offers graduate programs in three main fields: education, nursing, and public affairs. Both the undergraduate and graduate programs offer degrees that traverse a vast range of academic disciplines,. Doctoral degrees are offered in computer science and education. In July 1988, the name of Bowie State College was changed to Bowie State University because of how the programs of the educational institution and the enrollment and service in the local area merited it. On the same day, BSU became integrated into the University System of Maryland, which reflected how highly the public viewed the school. The academic infrastructure was further fortified when BSU received a 27 million dollar award for its excellence in engineering, science, and mathematics.

Today, BSU is touted as one of the leading higher education institutions in developing good pedagogues through its doctoral and master’s program in education. One of its greatest legacies is how it consistently produces the most outstanding school administrators and teachers. The student body remains diverse, totaling more than 5,400 students annually.

References

Bowie State University College Education. (2012). School administration and   supervision program handbook. BSU. Retrieved October 8, 2015 from http://www.bowiestate.edu/files/resources/sas_handbook_feb_1_2012.pdf

Bowie State University, (2015). Bowie State University graduate programs. BSU. Retrieved October 7, 2015 from http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-graduate-schools/bowie-state-university-162007

Bowie State University. (2015). Departments. BSU. Retrieved October 8, 2015 from http://www.bowiestate.edu/academics-research/departments/

Kelley, R. &Lewis, E. (2000). To make our world anew: A history of African Americans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.