Student Experience

Committed to your success

Ours is a close-knit and rigorous program with graduate students and faculty dedicated to their roles both as researchers and teachers. You’ll find professional courtesy, academic support, and a commitment to your achievement. The university experience is enhanced by an exceptional range of resources on campus, where it is possible to combine African Studies with many other interests and avocations.

We have students from across the world and the U.S.! Fellow graduate students combine our degrees with those from departments and professional schools across IU. Our courses are interdisciplinary in focus, and enriched by lectures from academic and professional practitioners, visiting scholars and artists, symposia, colloquia, and workshops, extra-curricular events, professionalization, and more. Opportunities abound for your personal and professional growth. You are welcome to also participate in our nationally recognized outreach efforts into schools, businesses, and the community. We want you to be fulfilled, and wish to supported as a whole person.

Please feel free to reach out to current graduate students and faculty to hear directly from them about our African Studies Program.

Bloomington is a fun and exciting place to live, offering cultural events, festivals, music, and lots of dining options. Find out what makes our town so special.

Check out Bloomington

IU offers outstanding research support & resources

Indiana University, founded in Bloomington in 1820, is one of the leading research universities in the nation. More than 37,000 students are enrolled at the Bloomington campus, approximately one-third of whom are graduate and professional school students. The University Graduate School offers outstanding academic programs alongside professional schools of national reputation, including the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, the Kelley School of Business, the Jacobs School of Music, and the Maurer School of Law.

As a result of efforts dating back to World War II, Indiana University is also a major center of international studies. This work is concentrated in a large number of federally and foundation-funded area study centers and in language and literature programs.

The Bloomington campus offers a variety of academic and cultural opportunities for minority students such as the Black Culture Center, the Office of Latino Affairs, and La Casa. The Office of Women’s Affairs is concerned with the status of all women on campus. This office sponsors speakers and career workshops for graduate women.

Graduate Students in African Studies (GSAS)

Graduate Students in African Studies (GSAS) exists as a forum that brings together graduate students from across a variety of disciplines in order to discuss their common interests in the study of Africa. The main objectives of this organization are to promote the study and research of African societies and cultural productions, to foster fellowship between students and faculty, and to address the needs of African Studies students within the program. Each spring, the organization hosts a graduate student symposium that brings students from across the country to Bloomington to share their cutting-edge research and engage in important inter-disciplinary theoretical discussions facing the field of African studies today. In recent years, Graduate Students in African Studies have also hosted film series and guest speakers on campus.

Learn more about GSAS

IU Congo Working Group

The IU Congo Working Group is an interdisciplinary working group connecting IU to colleagues and affiliates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A collaboration between IU’s African Studies Program and the Center for Constitutional Democracy, the group tackles important issues from both local and international perspectives and offers events to the wider campus community. Possible topics may include elections and electoral laws, political alliances, natural resources, education, environment, and responsible governance.

Other resources

Visit IU’s Diversity Office website

Learn about IU Bloomington

Visit Bloomington

male student presenting at a conference
African dance lesson with classroom
female student point to male student wearing a fur sweatshirt

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