Ethiopian Studies

Ethiopian Studies refers to a multi-disciplinary academic cluster dedicated to research on Ethiopia within the cultural and historical context of the Horn of Africa.

Overview

The classical concept of Ethiopian Studies, developed by European scholars, is based on disciplines like philology and linguistics, history and ethnography. It includes the study of Ethiopian arts and the history and theology of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The classical core of Ethiopian Studies is the philology of the written sources of Christian Ethiopia and Ethio-semitic linguistics. While this approach is still alive and has its role, Ethiopian Studies has opened to a wider concept that tries to avoid a bias in favour of the Christian Abyssinian culture (Amhara, Tigrinya; cf. Habesha people). It includes the study of the other Afro-Asiatic languages and cultures of Ethiopia besides those of Ethio-semitic derivation; the nation's non-Afro-Asiatic languages and cultures, including the southern Ethiopian cultures; non-Christian faiths, comprising Islam and traditional religions; social and political sciences; as well as contemporary issues like environment and development studies.

Conferences

Ethiopian Studies scholars congregate at the interdisciplinary International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, a series of gatherings that takes place every three years. Every third conference is held in Ethiopia. The next scheduled meeting is in Dire Dawa, 29 Oct. - 2 Nov. 2012. Volumes of proceedings are published after each conference.

Journals and publications

Ethiopian Studies is served by a few journals and publications specifically devoted to the field. These include:

• The Journal of Ethiopian Studies (Ethiopia)
• Aethiopica (Germany)
• Rassegna di Studi Etiopici (Italy)
• Quaderni di studi Etiopici (Italy)
• Northeast African Studies (USA)
• Encyclopaedia Aethiopica

Notable Ethiopianists

• Donald N. Levine
• Edward Ullendorff
• Enrico Cerulli
• Harold C. Fleming
• Enno Littmann
• Hiob Ludolf
• Lionel Bender
• Neville Chittick
• Richard Pankhurst
• Wolf Leslau

See also

• Somali Studies

References

• Abbink, Jon G. 1991: Ethiopian Society and History: a Bibliography of Ethiopian Studies, 1957-1990. Leiden.
• Kropp, Manfred 1994, "From Manuscripts to the Computer: Ethiopian Studies in the Last 150 Years". In: K.J. Cathcart (ed.): The Edward Hincks Bicentenary Lectures. Dublin . pp. 117-35.
• Uhlig, Siegbert, et al. (eds.) (2005). "Ethiopian Studies". In: Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 2: D-Ha. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 433f-38.

External links

• http://www.ies-ethiopia.org/indexf.htm
• http://www.tsehaipublishers.com/ijes/
• http://oromostudies.org/JOS.htm
• http://www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de/index.html
• http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/ethiostudies/