Finally, since this is a blog about academia and not journalism, I’ll forgive the commenters for not understanding that it is not my job to read entire dissertations before I write a 500-word piece about them. I read some academic publications (as they relate to other research I do), but there are not enough hours in the day or money in the world to get me to read a dissertation on historical black midwifery. In fact, I’d venture to say that fewer than 20 people in the whole world will read it. And the same holds true for the others that are mentioned in the piece.
Black Studies, Part 2: A Response to Critics - Brainstorm - The Chronicle of Higher Education. There is absolutely no reason why Naomi should read any of those dissertations. But if you don’t read them, you cannot make any comment about their value. Period.