{"product_id":"the-convergence-9798855809480","title":"The Convergence: When Collegiate Black Men Meet African American Literary Studies","description":"Draws on twenty years of firsthand teaching experience, student stories, and campus data to show how culturally grounded reading and discussion can support intellectual growth and improve college success for African American men.   The Convergence tells the inside story of a first-semester literature course for Black men at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, taught every fall since 2004. Drawing on twenty years of classroom practice, student voices, and campus data linking the course to higher persistence and graduation rates, the book shows how early, culturally grounded engagement with poetry, speeches, rap, fiction, and visual culture fosters deep reading and intellectual confidence. Across four chapters—on slavery and creativity, \"verbal dazzle,\" fiction reading, and learning to love what we criticize—the book bridges humanities scholarship with insights from reading science and aesthetics (saliency, the aesthetic mindset) to explain how and why this model works. Written for scholars, teachers, advisors, and higher-ed leaders, it offers an adaptable playbook, readings, practices, and program design to support Black men from day one and revitalize student-centered pedagogy in African American literary studies.\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 October 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 164\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 229 mm; Width 152 mm; Thickness 18 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e State University of New York Press\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9798855809480\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Howard, II Rambsy","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":67646450991354,"sku":"9798855809480","price":76.56,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/files\/9798855809480.jpg?v=1791244637","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/the-convergence-9798855809480","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}