African studies

This article is about the study of the African continent. For the journal, see African Studies (journal). For Africana studies in American identity politics, see Africana studies.

African studies is the study of Africa, especially the cultures and societies of Africa (as opposed to geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of the culture of Africa, history of Africa (colonisation of Africa, decolonization of Africa), anthropology of Africa (ethnic groups in Africa, demographics of Africa), politics of Africa, economy of Africa (poverty in Africa), languages of Africa, and religion in Africa (African traditional religion). A specialist in African studies is often referred to as an "Africanist". Typically, study of African studies focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, since North Africa is part of the Arab world.

Notable Africanists

• François Bassolet (1933-2001)
• Albert Adu Boahen (1932–2006)
• John F. Clark (196X-)
• David William Cohen (1943-)
• Basil Davidson (1914-2010)
• Cheikh Anta Diop (1923–1986)
• John Fage (1921–2002)
• Patrick Manning (1941-)
• Ali Mazrui (1933-)
• Micere Githae Mugo
• Carl Meinhof (1857–1944)
• Nji Oumarou Nchare (1964-)
• Roland Oliver (1923-)
• Jean Price-Mars (1876–1969)
• Walter Rodney (1942–1980)
• Niara Sudarkasa (1938-)
• Jean Suret-Canale (1921–2007)
• Robert Sutherland Rattray (1881–1938)
• Diedrich Westermann (1875–1956)
• Andrzej Zajączkowski (1922–1994)

African studies centers, associations, and major projects

• University-based centers
  • African Studies Center, Michigan State University
  • Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden
  • Centre of West African Studies
  • School of Asian and African Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University
  • The School of Oriental and African Studies
  • University of Florida Center for African Studies
• National and transnational centers
  • Nordic Africa Institute
• Associations
  • African Studies Association (North America)
  • AEGIS (Europe)
  • African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (Australasia and the Pacific)
• Projects
  • Bamum Scripts and Archives Project
  • Timbuktu Manuscripts Project
  • Internet library sub-saharan Africa (ilissAfrica)

Degree Programs

• United States of America
• Syracuse University, Pan African Studies Masters Program
• Ohio University, Masters in African Studies

Further reading

• Gershenhorn, Jerry, “‘Not an Academic Affair’: African American Scholars and the Development of African Studies Programs in the United States, 1942–1960,” Journal of African American History, 94 (Winter 2009), 44–68.

See also

• List of African studies journals
• Africa Bibliography for a categorised list of publications in the field since 1984
• Pan-Africanism
• Africana studies

External links

• African e-Journals Project, Michigan State University (Provides (1) a directory of more than 2,100 journals about Africa with their URLs, and where to find tables of contents, abstracts, and full text of articles online, and (2) a full-text archive of back issues of 11 African scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities.)
• African Studies Centres worldwide (Excerpt of the website database of ilissAfrica)