Dr. Cornel West has been professor of the Philosophy of Religion in the Divinity School at Harvard University since 1994. Dr. West also holds a joint appointment as professor of Afro-American studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He has written and taught on a range of issues, including religion, philosophy, African-American intellectual history, legal ethics, and drama. Dr. West has won numerous awards, including the American Book Award, and has received more than 20 honorary degrees.

Dr. West earned his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. He served as Professor of Religion and Director of the Afro-American Studies Department at Princeton before joining Harvard's faculty in 1994.

In the Spring of 1996, Harvard University announced the creation of the Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. University Professorship. One of only sixteen University Professorships, it belongs to a special category of endowed positions established in 1935 as Harvard's highest professorial distinction, and is endowed inpertpetuity. Dr. West was awarded the Alphonse Fletcher Jr. University Professorship in the Spring of 1998.

Harvard Degrees and Service:

B.A. '74 magna cum laude

*Other Degrees, Major Charitable and other activities M.A. and Ph.D, Princeton University; Professor of Religion and Director of the Afro-American Studies Department, Princeton; Interests; Black critical thought; cultural criticism; social theory; modern and post-modern philosophy and literature, and the future of American youth; My philosophy is not an abstract discipline, but rather a "polemical weapon that attempts to transform linguistic, social, cultural and political tradition to increase the scope of individual development and democratic actions. "My work--influenced by traditions as diverse as the Baptist Church, American transcendentalism and literature, the Black panthers, and European philosophy--seeks to revive the best of liberalism, populism and democratic socialism."

Achievements and Honors:

* In addition, Dr. West has penned introductions, editorials, and contributions to countless works which are not listed among his works here. Besides his numerous publications, Professor West is a well-respected and highly popular lecturer; his speaking style, formed by his roots in the Baptist Church, provides a blend of drama, knowledge, and inspiration.

Published Books of Dr. West

THE CORNEL WEST READER (PERSEUS BOOKS 1999)
THE COURAGE TO HOPE (BEACON 1999)
THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN PROGRESSIVISM: AN INITIATIVE FOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REFORM (BEACON 1998)
THE WAR AGAINST PARENTS: WHAT WE DO FOR AMERICA’S BELEAGUERED MOMS AND DADS ( co-authored with SYLVIA ANN HEWLETT (HOUGHTON MIFFLIN 1998)
FUTURE OF THE RACE (with HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.) (KNOPF/VINTAGE 1997)
RESTORING HOPE: CONVERSATIONS ON THE FUTURE OF BLACK AMERICA (BEACON 1997)
JEWS AND BLACKS (with MICHAEL LERNER) (PUTNAM/PLUME 1996)
RACE MATTERS (BEACON 1994)
PROPHETIC FRAGMENTS (WILLIAM EERDMANS IN GRAND RAPIDS, MI. 1993)
KEEPING FAITH: PHILOSOPHY AND RACE IN AMERICA (ROUTLEDGE 1993)
BEYOND EUROCENTRISM AND MULTICULTURALISM (two volumes by COMMON COURAGE PRESS 1993)
BREAKING BREAD: INSURGENT BLACK INTELLECTUAL LIFE (with Bell Hooks) (South End Press 1991)
THE ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF MARXIST THOUGHT (MONTHLY REVIEW PRESS 1991)
THE AMERICAN EVASION OF PHILOSOPHY; A GENEALOGY OF PRAGMATISM)( UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 1989)
PROPHECY DELIVERANCE! AN AFRO-AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY (WESTMINSTER PRESS 1982: bought by JOHN KNOX)