African Studies - A Word from the Director

Welcome to Indiana University's African Studies Program web pages. Since its founding in 1961, the African Studies Program has been defined by a distinguished faculty and outstanding students, an exceptional African language program, innovative interdisciplinary training, outstanding libraries, museums and other repositories of Africana resources, numerous linkages with universities in Africa, and a wide range of outreach activities.
We have a distinguished faculty in over a dozen academic departments and half a dozen professional schools, with extensive publication records and a commitment to teaching excellence in more than 150 Africa-related courses. Our affiliated faculty members are in numerous departments and professional schools. They regularly receive prestigious grants and awards for their research. Some are editors of academic journals, such as Africa Today, which the African Studies Program publishes quarterly in collaboration with Indiana University Press.

The Program offers instruction in several African languages, including regularly scheduled classes in Akan, Arabic, Bamana, Swahili, Wolof, and Zulu; the possibility exists to learn other African languages through individualized instruction. The Program also organizes two regular speaker series, Tuesday Noon Talks and Seminar Speakers (offered every semester), and supports research clusters and working groups that form around thematic topics or geographical areas. We also organize conferences and workshops on a regular basis.

Our faculty is committed to training the next generation of African Studies scholars. Graduate students receive superb instruction and one-on-one advising from our faculty. As a result, many students receive funding for their pre-dissertation or Ph.D. research.  Our Program recruits outstanding students specializing in the study of Africa, a significant number of whom have received major grants and support of doctoral research in over two dozen African countries. More than 350 Ph.D. dissertations on Africa have been completed at Indiana University, and degree recipients have accepted academic positions in 32 states and 20 foreign countries, as well as positions in government and in public and private agencies. We launched an M.A. in African Studies in fall 2007 which complements our PhD Minor in African Studies.

Many undergraduate students have received a Certificate in African Studies and learned an African language. A number of undergraduates have also participated in our study abroad programs in several African countries.  Undergraduate students at Indiana University can take African Studies L231 and L232, ‘African Civilizations’ and ‘Contemporary Africa,’ respectively, or cross-listed course offerings in specific departments. The Program offers an undergraduate certificate in African Studies for those who wish to concentrate on Africa as well as a B.A. Minor in African languages. We hosted the Summer Cooperative African Language Institute (SCALI) in 2005 and 2006.

Our faculty and students benefit from rich and growing collections of Africana materials at the Wells Library, the Lilly Library of Rare Books, the Art Museum, the Archives of Traditional Music, and other university repositories. Our faculty and staff have used these resources as well as data in private collections to develop web-based resources. The Program's outreach activities are extensive, and include involvement with Indiana University's Global Speakers Service, the publication of an outreach newsletter, and the maintenance of an outreach lending library.

I hope you will use these pages to discover more about the wide range of excellent programs and activities supported by the African Studies Program at Indiana University. I hope to hear from you.

Samuel Obeng

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