The main mission of H-Afro-Am is to provide an exchange of information for professionals, faculty and advanced students, in the field of African American Studies (also called Afrocentricity, Africology, Africana Studies, Afro-American Studies, Black Studies, and Pan-African Studies). As an electronic infrastructure for the field, it will establish a professional academic foundation inclusive of all ideological tendencies and schools of thought. The intended audience for H- Afro-Am is mainly academic: faculty, administrative and research professionals, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates. The focus is on the African Diaspora though mainly on the US experience, and then to the African Diaspora in comparison to the US. The editorial style will be similar to one appropriate for a journal (written text) and a round table discussion at a professional meeting (short exchanges between colleagues). The main issue is to maintain a high level of professionalism, in content and form, so that everyone has access and can benefit. This is not a plan for uniformity or consensus, but ground rules for a dynamic exchange of ideas and information in which agreements and conflicts can be experienced and learned from as well.
H-Afro-Am is also the official voice of the The Collegium for African American Research in Europe (CAAR), which was established in 1992 by a group of European scholars who saw the need to promote African American scholarship from an international perspective. Since then, CAAR has grown considerably and now has over 240 members from 26 countries. The aim of CAAR is to spread information and documentation, and encourage the exchange of ideas by organizing panels and conferences, publishing a newsletter, preparing collective publications, and creating working groups on a variety of topics.
II. Editors.
The editors serve two-year renewable terms, with the approval of the H-Net Executive Committee and rotate their duties. The current editor will be identified in all messages coming from the list. The editors will solicit postings (by email, phone and even by regular mail), will assist people in managing subscriptions and setting up options, will handle routine inquiries, and will consolidate some postings. Anyone with suggestions about what H-AFRO-AM can and might do is invited to send in ideas. The editors will solicit and post newsletter-type information (calls for conferences, for example, or listings of sessions at conventions.) Like all H-Net lists, H-AFRO-AM is moderated to edit out material that, in the editors' opinion, is not germane to the list, involves technical matters (such as subscription management requests), is inflammatory, or violates evolving, yet common, standards of Internet etiquette. Please read section III below for details about ownership, style, formatting, and content of your messages. H-Net's procedure for resolving disputes over list editorial practices is Article II, Section 2.20 of our Council Policies, located at:
http://www.h-net.org/about/policies.php
For a list of current editors visit: http://networks.h-net.org/node/2606/staffpage
III. Communicating Through the List.
A. Copyright notice. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. H-Net considers all messages posted to its lists to be a form of publication. All contributions to H-AFRO-AM fall under Art. III, Sec. 3.01-3.08 of the H-Net Council Policies
concerning copyright and intellectual property:
"H-Net is a nonprofit communications service intended to advance the teaching, research, and service of scholars, educators, and students. Preserving copyright rights is a collective responsibility: H-Net users and editors must respect the intellectual property of others. Consistent with the objective of encouraging creativity in scholarship and education, editors and users are encouraged to transmit copyrighted works to or through H-Net, with the express permission of the copyright holder or in accordance with the fair use provisions of copyright law. H-Net considers posting to H-Net lists or Web, as contrasted with private e-mail correspondence, to be a form of publication." In general, the author retains copyright rights to publication of any submission to the list, and grants to H-AFRO-AM and H-Net permission to store, disseminate with full attribution, and make available to subscribers such submissions without further permission. Postings (such as H-Net reviews) that are commissioned by H-Net are copyrighted by H-Net and may be reprinted for nonprofit, educational purposes with proper attribution to the author, location, and H-Net. A full copy of the H-Net Constitution and Bylaws and other important information may be found on the World Wide Web at: http://www.h-net.org/about/.
B. Contributions: "Netiquette." The tone and content of H-AFRO-AM depend directly on subscribers. The editors want to encourage lively, informal, productive discussion and exchange of information. To that end, we ask that contributions be considerate of the needs of a busy audience of scholars, many of whom must pay for their access to the internet. A number of excellent guides to online behavior and style are available on the World Wide Web; we invite you consult them.
-- ALL MAIL TO THE LIST MUST BE SIGNED.
If your profile on the H-Net Commons is not filled out with a valid name and affiliation the editors will delay posting until authorship and email address are confirmed.
-- CONTENT: Editors retain the right to review material for its pertinence, tone, style, and relevance to the list's mission. Ad hominems, unattributed quotations or innuendo, private messages forwarded for posting without permission, or messages that violate the norms of civility and professional courtesy will be rejected. Persistent violators can be removed from the subscription list. H-Net permanently archives its content on the H-Net Commons. Do not submit material that you consider to be of a private nature or that you would not want available to future readers.
-- STYLE: the default editorial style for the list is that of a letter to the editor. Your remarks can be crafted to suit the tone of an existing discussion thread, but in any case they should address the editor and not make direct personal references to others, except where you are replying directly to a simple query (e.g., "you can find this information in Webster's Third International Dictionary."). Avoid excessive quotation of messages you refer or reply to.
-- FORMAT: While you can submit your posts to the Commons using various fonts, styles and formatting these may be edited by the editor for uniformity and readability.
IV. Technical Information.
When you subscribe to the Commons, H-Net will send you a confirmation message containing important information about managing your subscription. For online help with your subscription see http://networks.h-net.org/help-desk, especially the “Getting Started” section. These guides will help you modify your notifications, unsubscribe from the network, change the e-mail address associated with your profile, and use your “My H-Net” page effectively. If you still have questions after reading the guides please email help@mail.h-net.org.
V. The H-AFRO-AM Network Site
The H-AfroAm web site contains the following required information and services:
- The archives of the H-AfroAm network discussions and other uploaded content
- The network's official documents: its about page, lists of board members and editors, contact information, and other founding and information documents.
- Hypertext links to resources in our subject: teaching materials, research archives, other networks.
VI. Advisory Board.
H-AFRO-AM's daily activities are managed by the editors. Its long-term policies are developed by the advisory board. If you are interested in serving on the board, please contact the current editor. Board members referee incoming articles, reviews, and teaching materials; establish basic subscription restrictions and policy; advise the editors on disputes among editors and subscribers; monitor the list and make active contributions to discussion; and serve as the subscribers' voice in H-Net affairs. You are encouraged to contact any or all of the editorial board members with ideas and concerns about H-AFRO-AM.
For a list of the current advisory board, visit:
VII. Our Parent Organization: H-Net
H-Net is an international consortium of scholars in the humanities and social sciences that creates and coordinates electronic networks, using a variety of media, and with a common objective of advancing humanities and social science teaching and research. H-Net was created to provide a positive, supportive, equalitarian environment for the friendly exchange of ideas and scholarly resources.
The goals of H-NET networks are to enable scholars to easily communicate current research and teaching interests; to discuss new approaches, methods and tools of analysis; to share information on electronic databases; and to test new ideas and share comments on the literature in their fields.
H-Net's Bylaws and Council Policies, along with a list of its officers and committees, is available at:
http://www.h-net.org/about/policies.php
Among H-Net's many services are:
- Book and software reviews: timely, exhaustive, authoritative, professional, fast. Mailed through our lists and stored in searchable, printable, retrievable format on our site at the World Wide Web. http://www.h-net.org/reviews
- Job guide postings: at regular intervals, H-Net offers employment information in a broad array of fields in the humanities and social sciences. https://h-net.org/jobs/home.php
- H-Net calendar: announcements of conferences, papers, and professional activities, archived and searchable at our web site. You can visit our site and sample these and other services, at: http://www.h-net.org/announce
CONTACTING H-NET FOR MORE INFORMATION
On the World Wide Web: http://www.h-net.org Electronic mail: help@mail.h-net.org
Postal mail:
H-Net
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East Lansing, MI 48824
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Executive Director:
Jesse Draper
Interim Director and Associate Director of Networks
Email: draperje@mail.h-net.org