Transdisciplinary Africana Studies and Africana Poetical Science: A Conversation

This investigation examines synergies between the Poetical Science Discourse (PSD) methodology developed by Ayo Sekai and Transdisciplinary Africana Studies praxis as conceptualized by James Stewart. The presentation is structured as a conversation between the two scholar/activists. The dialogue focuses on the manner in which Sekai and Stewart treat the relationship between cultural production and social science research. PSD entails the conjoining of a poem and an accompanying scholarly discourse (SD) analyzing the poem’s socio-political import. Stewart’s conceptualization of “transdisciplinary” challenges conventional understanding of the terms multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary, and advocates rejection of the assumption that traditional disciplinary demarcations constitute the most useful starting point for organizing systematic inquiry. This position supports the treatment of cultural production and social science research as conjoined sources of knowledge generation. Selected poems and associated SDs are analyzed to demonstrate the pedagogical and research capabilities of PSD as well as its transdisciplinary characteristics. Africana Studies scholar/activists are encouraged to cultivate relationships with progressive creative artists to co-produce artistic works and related SDs for dissemination through appropriate media. This type of concerted effort between cultural producers and Africana Studies social scientists is proposed to amplify liberatory messaging and counter current attacks on liberatory narratives and authentic African American history instruction.