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Professor Emeritus of Africana Studies
General Interests
"My most immediate projects are in the areas of Black Studies theory, African American literary criticism, Black psychology traditions, and the status of Blacks in Latin America."
Years at Knox: 1988 to 2020
Education
Ph.D., Black Studies: Literature and History, 1987, Union Graduate School.
M.S., Speech and Education, 1965, Indiana State University.
B.S., Speech and History, 1963, Indiana State University.
Teaching Interests
African dimensions of the Latin American experience, Black studies, African studies, African American literature, Black philosophy, Black psychology, Black religion.
Honors/Grants
Minority Access National Role Model Award
Who's Who Among Black Americans.
Publications
The Rhythm of Home: Selected Poems. Forthcoming.
"To a Black Father at Fifty," African American Review, 2017.
Into Africa, Being Black: New and Selected Poems. Chicago: Third World Press, 2013.
Editor, Black Culture Centers: The Politics of Survival and Identity. Summer 2005.
Africa to Me (poetry). 1999.
"Black Students and Cultural Pigmentation." Nommo, 1998.
Presentations
"African American Studies and State Histories," Invited Paper, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, 2008.
"Obama's Transformational Presidency and Centers‘ Kwanzaa Principles," Invited Paper, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2008.
"The Centrality of Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement," Paper Presented, Association for Black Culture Centers, Rutgers University, New Jersey, 2008.
"Afrocentric Strategies of Cooperation Between Black Studies and Black Culture Centers." National Council for Black Studies, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005.
"The Promise of Black Studies." Association of African American Studies National Meeting, Chicago, Illinois.
"An Optimal Climate for Diversity: Black Culture Centers and Africoncentric Strategies." National Conference on Best Practices in Black Student Achievement, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 2005.
"The Black Church: A Visible and Invisible Institution." African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Founders Day, Allen Chapel AME Church, Galesburg, Illinois, 2005.
"Black Culture Centers and Black Studies Programs: The Synergistic Approach." Witherspoon Culture Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.
"Black Male/Female Relationships in the Twenty-First Century." Center for Black Studies, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, 2005.
Campus & Community Involvement
Member, Editorial board of the Journal of Black Studies.
Founder and President, Association for Black Culture Centers (ABCC).
Member, Board of the Illinois Committee for Black Concerns in Higher Education.
Member, Board of the National Council for Black Studies.
Raising in-kind support of more than $15,000 toward library acquisitions at the library of the ABLE (Allied Blacks for Liberty and Equality) Center for Black Culture.
What Students Say
"Professor Hord creates a safe environment in his classes where students feel comfortable being open and frank about difficult issues involving race. He encourages discussions which incorporate both his and the student's personal experiences. Professor Hord is genuinely concerned about his students. He listens and responds to each student's thoughts, and allows them to influence the structure of the class."
-Melissa Cohen, Sociology-Anthropology Major