Associate Professor of English Angela Ards has heard it all about the so-called death of journalism: nobody reads anymore, newspapers and magazines are dying all over the place, they鈥檙e so biased anyway, and there鈥檚 all that fake news they print.
But Ards believes there is a future for journalism, and that Boston College can have a hand in it.聽
That鈥檚 a big reason Ards joined 蝌蚪直播 this fall, after 10 years on the faculty at Southern Methodist University. In addition to teaching African American and contemporary American literature, Ards will help develop and direct a new interdisciplinary minor in journalism expected to debut next fall.
A former editor and writer at The Village Voice and The Nation who also has contributed to Ms. Magazine and other publications, Ards has considerable professional experience on which to draw. But her work as a scholar, whose research interests encompass literature, history and cultural studies, will be equally important in 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 effort to recast journalism in a modern, multidisciplinary liberal arts framework while retaining awareness of its tradition and tenets.聽
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that journalism as we knew it is facing many challenges nowadays,鈥� says Ards, who holds a doctorate in English from Princeton University, a master鈥檚 in African American Studies from UCLA and a bachelor鈥檚 in English and African American Studies from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. 鈥淏ut the need for sound, quality journalism 鈥� as opposed to punditry or entertainment 鈥� in a healthy democracy is as great as ever, and will remain so. Hopefully, journalism will figure out its business model in the next several years; in the meantime, this generation of college students can still find a way to write journalistically, for print or some other platform.鈥�
The interdisciplinary journalism minor is envisioned as a marriage 鈥渙f craft and context, with that distinctive Boston College flair,鈥� says Ards. 鈥淎t 蝌蚪直播, we teach our students to bring all of their learning, and all of their being, to produce work that is of good use to the world.聽
鈥淲ith this new minor, we want to take the strengths of 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 journalism program and make them available to students who see themselves as pursuing other fields or interests. The outcome will be graduates who are able to bring a journalistic perspective to their particular vocation.鈥�
Professor of English Carlo Rotella, who directs 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 American Studies Program and is involved in developing the journalism minor, says the program will be a 鈥渇lexible one that can respond quickly to changes in a fast-changing field while also offering a solid grounding in the journalistic tradition.
聽鈥淲e鈥檒l offer a mix of foundational training in journalism as a way of thinking 鈥� much like one would study law or history 鈥� and craft training in reporting, writing, digital reporting, investigative practices, and other hands-on skills, as well as ethics. In shaping the program and the new minor, we鈥檙e making what we offer in journalism much more systematic and purposeful, and also better fitted to both the university and the profession.鈥�
Rotella notes that journalism continues to be an in-demand program of study at 蝌蚪直播 鈥� with upwards of 15 courses per semester offered 鈥� and says Ards is well suited to the task of heading up the new minor.聽
鈥淚n addition to her resume as editor and writer, she鈥檚 a tenured professor experienced in organizing and running things in a university setting. That combination is essential. We have students eager to explore the field, and we have tenure-line faculty and a fabulous crew of working-journalist instructors who want to teach them. She鈥檚 perfectly equipped to put them together in ways that will benefit all concerned.鈥�
For Ards, Boston College鈥檚 interdisciplinary character dovetails with her scholarly modus operandi, blending a journalistic approach with a sweeping literary, historical and cultural vision. Her book Words of Witness: Black Women鈥檚 Autobiography in the Post-Brown Era examined how the memoirs of Melba Beals, Rosemary Bray, June Jordan, Eisa Davis, Edwidge Danticat and other civil rights activists diverge from presumptive 鈥渙fficial鈥� accounts of the era, and seek to shape contemporary social political thought.
Ards鈥� current project, meanwhile, looks at a less-chronicled aspect of the post-World War II Great Migration that transformed America鈥檚 racial demographics. Focusing on the Dallas neighborhood in which she grew up, Ards is conducting an oral history of black Americans who, for various reasons, opted to stay put instead of relocating to other parts of the US. Their stories, she says, challenge widely held views of non-migrants as lacking in ambition or fortitude.聽 聽
鈥淚 was very enthused to see that the kind of teaching, research and writing I really like to do is valued at Boston College,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he opportunity to come to this University, in a vibrant city of such amazing institutions, was impossible to pass up. I look forward to helping make this new, liberal arts-driven concept of journalism a part of the 蝌蚪直播 undergraduate experience.鈥�
Ards鈥� fellowships and honors have included fellowships at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, a residency at the Kopkind Writers Colony, and a dissertation research grant from the Program in African American Studies at Princeton.
-Sean Smith / University Communications