The author talks about a new generation of Ph.D.'s that is advancing the field with a multidisciplinary approach. Like their predecessors who worked to establish black studies as a respected academic discipline, today's Ph.D. students are also attracted to the social mission of the field. But younger black-studies scholars are willing to work with advisers and mentors of different races. With more openness and trust on both sides, young scholars don't necessarily feel that they are betraying their own people by working with someone outside of their race as a mentor. They are not concerned with the sort of racial and gender identity politics that often informed scholarly works and divided departments and campuses a generation ago. And unlike the first two waves of black-studies scholars, who were trained in traditional disciplines, younger scholars of race tend to focus on work that is interdisciplinary.