By Joan Magruder

	Cedric J. Robinson, professor of black studies

Scholars from all over the country will meet at UCSB on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5 and 6, to celebrate the life’s work of their colleague, Cedric J. Robinson, UCSB professor of black studies, and to discuss the future of the black radical tradition in teaching and research.

More than 100 scholars, undergraduates, and graduate students will attend the free, two-day conference and participate in panel discussions on Robinson’s contributions to the field. In addition, they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his seminal book, “Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition.”

The book is considered to be one of the most important works on radical black thought in print. Robinson is also the author of “Tradition,” “Terms of Order: Political Science and the Myth of Leadership,” “Black Movements in America,” and “The Anthropology of Marxism.”

Organized by Robinson’s colleagues and former graduate students, the symposium will address past and future directions in radical scholarship. Some activities are open to the public, including Robinson’s keynote address on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the UCen’s Corwin Pavilion.

UCSB colleague Gerard Pigeon, professor of black studies, will introduce him. “Professor Robinson’s visionary and scholarly accomplishments have deeply influenced the field of social sciences and validated our discipline,” Pigeon said.

Robinson, who joined the UCSB faculty in 1979 as the director of the Center for Black Studies, is a professor of political science as well as black studies. His fields of teaching and research include modern political thought, radical social theory in the African Diaspora, comparative politics, and media and politics. He is also co-founder and regular correspondent of “Third World News Review,” a weekly television and radio program and the oldest public access television show in the country.

The establishment of an annual lectureship in Robinson’s name will be announced at the close of the symposium.

According to Howard Winant, professor of sociology, “Cedric Robinson is an intellectual treasure, a world-historical theorist whose influence is already great.”