Founded in 1961, the African Studies Program at IU is a vital, multidisciplinary knowledge center that has been recognized as a Title VI National Resource Center for more than 50 years. Today, our program is comprised of faculty in the humanities, arts, sciences, and professional schools who teach and engage with research throughout the continent and its diaspora.
IU is host to extensive Africana collections, including the Somali Collection, the Liberian Collections, the private papers of Ngugi wa Thiongo, the Ousmane Sembene archive, and the H.K. Banda Archive. The Eskenazi Art Museum houses one of the finest African art collections found on any college campus in the world. The international journal Africa Today is edited by faculty members in the program and published by Indiana University Press. Intellectual life is vibrant and public in African Studies, and includes weekly Friday Colloquiums that address current issues and research, the African Languages Festival, symposiums, workshops, and conferences that our faculty, graduate students, and international scholars make possible. There are also ten research Working Groups within African Studies: Displaced Africans/Migration and Immigration; Muslim Africa; Entrepreneurial & Emerging Economies/Sustainable Systems; Non-Government Organizations; Teacher Education & Africa; the Patrick O’Meara Southern Africa Working Group; African Language Research and Advocacy; Ritual & Religious Practices in the African Diaspora; Slavery, Unfreedom & Memorialization of the Past; and, Conflict, War, Military Trauma & Healing; ASP Curriculum Enhancement; and the university-wide Global Visual Cultures Working Group.
There are a number of degree and certificate opportunities in African Studies that compliment a range of fields and careers. Our students are encouraged to pursue study abroad and research opportunities to gain first-hand experience on the continent. We regularly offer seven African languages, including Akan/Twi, Arabic, Bamana, Kinyarwanda, Swahili, Yoruba, and Zulu. Students can also pursue other African languages through summer FLAS.
