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Due to the transatlantic slave trade, the Americas host the biggest African diasporas as well as an impressive number of African Studies departments and programs. Thanks to political and academic activism, African studies curricula have become more and more innovative and transdisciplinary in scope. It should not be forgotten however that many area studies departments have been state created in order to better penetrate African markets and scholarship have been granted in order to train and influence Africa's future elite. (see Edmond J.Keller, Globalization, African Studies and the Academy [pdf]).

The Centro de Estudos Afro-Orientais is a supplementary arm of the Faculty of Philosophy and Human Sciences of the Universidade Federal da Bahia dedicated to the study, research and community activities in the area of the Afro-Brazilian studies and affirmative actions in favor of the afro-descendant populations, as well the study of African and Asian languages and civilizations. It was created in 1959, a child of the political and cultural euphoria of that historic moment during which Brazil initiated its policy of diplomatic and cultural presence in the young African continent that was just having its first taste of independence from colonial rule. >>>

African Studies - AS - is part of the Centre for Research and Special Projects - CIPE - of the Faculty of Finance, Government and International Relations of the University Externado de Colombia.Since its creation in May 2000, AS became the only group researching and promoting African Studies in Colombia. Its activities include the publication of articles and books, the organisation and participation in academic events, and the establishment of links with government agencies, international organisations and universities, amongst others. Therefore, with its graduate and undergraduate courses at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, African Studies contributes to the study and analysis of African dynamics in Colombia. >>>

Africana Studies is an interdisciplinary program in which to study the histories, cultures and experiences of African peoples on the African continent and around the world. Students develop a comparative perspective on these subjects in order to understand the rich network of linkages and exchanges among Africa’s people, their descendants and the various "new worlds" in which those descendants made their lives. >>>

The Institute of African Studies (IAS) is one of the University's eight regional institutes located at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Founded in 1959, the IAS provides an intellectual forum for Africa-related activities outside the classroom. It brings speakers and visiting scholars to the campus, organizes conferences, and serves as a resource center for students seeking opportunities to work, study and travel in Africa. The IAS concentrates on sub-Saharan Africa, while North Africa is included in the programs of the Middle East Institute. >>>

The Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR) is located in the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). CSUS is one of 23 campuses of the California State University system - the largest system of senior higher education in the world. CAPCR draws upon the resources of a highly trained interdisciplinary team of faculty and conflict resolution experts committed to the Center's mission. The Center also draws on the unique assets of CSUS, California's Capital University. Here are a few ways we reach out to the community. >>>

Africana studies is a tradition of intellectual inquiry and study of African peoples. Using a transdisciplinarian approach, Africana scholars document the global migrations and reconstruction of African peoples, as well as patterns of linkages to the African continent (and among the peoples of the African Diaspora). >>>

The Cornell Institute for African Development (IAD) coordinates teaching, outreach and professional service activities addressing issues related to food security, human resource development (including refugee assistance), environmental resource management, economic growth, and public policy guidance in Africa. >>>

Emerging Africa aims to explore the new challenges and opportunities facing African countries today, focusing on the interface between academic research and policy applications. >>>

The African Studies Program is a part of the Central Connecticut State University International Area Studies Program. Its principal goals are to promote an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Africa, to give students an opportunity to study in Africa and to encourage student exchanges, facilitate the exchange of scholars between C.C.S.U. and African institutions, establish links with local and regional educators interested in the study of Africa, encourage student visitation of Africana Collections, develop a collaborative relationship with other African Studies programs. >>>

The overriding objective of the center is the nurturing of men and women with new knowledge on Africa in order to reduce the critical shortage of African Americans among the coterie of Africanists who offer expertise to U.S. policy making on Africa. In addition, the center seeks to increase the prospects for greater minority participation in African affairs, including business, diplomacy and media. >>>

The African & African American Studies Program is designed to establish coordinated interdisciplinary study of the history and culture, the social and economic issues, and the political institutions and processes that have shaped the experiences of people of African ancestry. The program serves as an interdisciplinary intellectual center that encourages research and scholarship in many dimensions of African and African American experiences. >>>

The Institute of African Studies offers an active community of scholars and a lively focus of activity to persons interested in Africa. The Institute promotes interdisciplinary teaching and research on Africa, administers an undergraduate minor and, as of Fall 2004, a new major. The Institute also coordinates graduate training in African Studies at Emory. The Institute runs an on-going seminar in African studies, hosts visiting African scholars, and regularly sponsors conferences, exhibitions, and special events on Africa. >>>

The Five College African Studies Certificate Program allows students on each of the five campuses to develop a concentration of study devoted to Africa that complements any major. The certificate course of study is based on six courses on Africa to be selected with the guidance and approval of an African studies certificate program advisor. >>>

The Department of African Studies offers graduate programs leading to the Masters of Arts and Doctors of Philosophy degrees. The master's program consists of a two-year professional program, while the Ph.D program is research oriented. The department offers students both historical and current perspectives on the socio-economic, cultural, technological, and political developments of Africa. >>>

The African Studies Program is located in Woodburn Hall on the Indiana University, Bloomington campus. The Program has long been recognized as one of the leading centers for the interdisciplinary study of Africa. It has been a U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center every year since 1965. >>>

Founded in 1960, the MSU African Studies Center is one of nine Title VI National Resource Centers on Africa designated by the U.S. Department of Education, based on the Center’s 150 research faculty providing broad research, teaching, and service on the continent. In addition to courses and seminars on Africa, the program offers instruction in 30 African languages. >>>

The Africana Studies Program at New York University is devoted to the interdisciplinary and multi-continental study of modern black identities, culture, literature and politics. Africana Studies students explore the history and culture of black peoples in Africa, the Americas (including the Caribbean), and Europe, especially the emergence of black identities in the modern world. The program's two main areas of concentration are Pan-African History and Thought and Black Urban Studies. Pan-African History and Thought includes the study of such literary and political movements as the Harlem Renaissance, the Negritude movement, black consciousness, black feminism, and black intellectual leaders such as Aime Cesaire, Angela Davis, W. E. B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, C.L.R. James, Malcolm X, Kwame Nkrumah, and Leopold Senghor. >>>

The Program of African Studies (PAS) at Northwestern has achieved international prominence for fostering the production of innovative scholarship, the training of hundreds of African specialists, and the development of new ways of thinking about the African world. >>>

African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University is the proud product of the 1960s Black freedom movement. Originally established as an academic division in October 1969, Black Studies (now African American and African Studies) obtained formal department status in 1972 and today enjoys the reputation of being one of the strongest African American and African Studies programs in the nation. The primary mission of the department is to stimulate teaching and research about the Black experience in the U.S., Africa and throughout the African diaspora, and to encourge students and others to assess various strategies for advancing human progress through the examination of the worldwide struggle for Black freedom. >>>

The African Studies Program at Ohio University, is a designated Title VI National Resource Center for Africa supported by U.S. Department of Education funding. As such the Program provides students, scholars and members of the broader community opportunities to develop their understanding of this important world region. Facilities for research and language instruction, as well as formal degree studies are available through the program. Students may earn a Master of Arts in International Affairs (MAIA) degree with a major in African Studies through the Center for International Studies. >>>

The Center for African Studies (CAS) at Rutgers University is the major institution for African studies in the state of New Jersey and is committed to promoting scholarly research on Africa while increasing public understanding of the continent. The Center consists of faculty and staff throughout the three campuses of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, Camden and Newark. Faculty members conduct research in many African countries and in a variety of fields. >>>

Located in Building 240 in the main quad, the Center for African Studies (CAS) is an exciting resource for Stanford undergraduates. Students interested in Africa and African Studies at any level - academic, social, or personal - are encouraged to become involved with the Center. >>>

Set on historic Beacon Hill, near the State House, Suffolk is a private, urban university which offers students the resources of Boston, a world class city. Boston has academic, cultural and international appeal, and it is home to more universities and colleges than any other American city. Suffolk University's Dakar/Senegal Campus offers a unique opportunity for American college students to pursue semester, academic-year and summer African Studies programs in history, economics, politics, and cultural heritage. The campus is located in a very modern facility on the grounds of the Ecole Nationale d'Economie Appliquee near Cheikh Anta Diop University. Students from around the world may study abroad at the Dakar Campus for a summer, semester or an entire year. Students can take courses in African Studies and Business Administration. >>>

The Program in African and African Diaspora Studies offers students an interdisciplinary course of study that may lead to either a Major or a Minor. Both the Major and the Minor are designed to enable students a considerable degree of freedom in the choice electives and they both offer ample avenues for students interested in pursuing independent research and/or internship experiences. The Program supports students who choose to study the languages of Africa and its Diaspora and is particularly interested in encouraging the study of less commonly taught languages such as Yoruba, Kiswahili, Arabic and Haitian Creole. The Program also encourages students to pursue Study Abroad opportunities in Africa and its Diaspora and advises them in all matters pertaining to such study. >>>

The group is comprised of members from throughout the University community drawing from numerous departments including Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, Biological Sciences, Communication and Culture, French, Geography, History, Political Science and others. The African Studies Research Group is also committed to strengthening and exploring linkages with members of the African and African diaspora community within Calgary and beyond and with those involved in African research throughout the World. >>>

The Berkeley's Center for African Studies was established in 1979 as an interdisciplinary research center to support basic research and training of scholars. In 2000, we were officially designated as an Organized Research Unit on the Berkeley campus, working closely with the Department of African American Studies. The Center supports scholarly activities over a broad range of topics that address contemporary African issues. The Center provides opportunities for students majoring in traditionally defined fields to develop a comprehensive interdisciplinary program in African Studies. >>>

ASC's teaching program trains students for leadership positions in the public and private sectors and for teaching and research in colleges and universities. It is comprised of both graduate and undergraduate education and includes a Minor in African Studies, a Master of Arts in African Studies, PhD in various disciplines with an Africa focus and instruction in several African languages -- Hausa, Twi, Swahili, Afrikaans, Zulu, Yoruba, Amharic, Wolof, etc. >>>

The Center for African Studies was established in 1964 and is funded, in part, under Title VI of the Higher Education Act as a National Resource Center on Africa. The Center directs, develops, and coordinates interdisciplinary instruction, research, and outreach on Africa. Florida is the only comprehensive National Resource Center located in the Southeastern United States. >>>

In keeping with the Strategic Plan of The University of Georgia, that is to advance the international aspects of teaching, research, public service and outreach missions and to enrich the learning environment of its students, the primary goals of the Institute embrace the enhancement of the teaching of courses with a rich African content, initiation of new courses and degree programs in African Studies, collaboration in research opportunities in and about Africa, and the expansion of current and creation of studies abroad, student and faculty exchanges, and continuing education and outreach programs between African institutions and the University of Georgia. >>>

Under construction, January 2005. >>>

The African Studies Program (ASP), a constituent program of the University of Iowa International Programs, was established in 1979 to promote the interdisciplinary study of Africa at The University of Iowa. It helps students gain a broader understanding of traditional and contemporary life in Africa and provides an environment of cooperation and collaboration among students and faculty that leads to increased opportunities for research and teaching. >>>

Our department will introduce you to African and African-American history, culture and life in general. Although Africa and Afro-America are the major areas of study, due attention is paid to the Caribbean and Latin America. The interdisciplinary major, with its opportunity for fieldwork in Africa or in the African Diaspora, also encourages students to engage in independent study to maximize their academic and research potential. >>>

The Center for Afroamerican and African Studies (CAAS) at the University of Michigan functions as an academic department in the areas of African Studies, African American Studies, and Afro-Caribbean Studies. One of the few programs in the country to combine African Studies with the study of the people and cultures of the African diaspora, it has its own undergraduate program, courses, and faculty and is also home to the South African Initiatives Office and the African Studies Initiative Program. Established in 1970 in response to African American students who wanted to bring a richer representation of the Black experience to the University of Michigan course offerings, The Center offers a rich and fertile environment for the study of people of African descent using the methods of history, sociology, psychology, economics, political science, and the arts. >>>

Strong and effective African and African American studies programs are essential components of any first-rate university, and that is especially true for The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which has a long and distinguished tradition of scholarship in those fields. Our mission is to continue to expand and develop that tradition through teaching, research, and service to local, state, national, and international communities. Our scope embraces Africa and everywhere else in the world where Africans or their descendants have had an impact on history and culture. We explore the full range of the multifaceted, and interrelated cultures and experiences of Africans and African Americans. Our commitment to interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship allows us to engage complex issues in innovative ways that are often beyond the boundaries of the traditional disciplines. >>>

The African Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania is recognized as a vital and forward-looking center where researchers, students and cultural and business entities come to gain knowledge of contemporary and historical Africa. The Center coordinates a wide range of course offerings in anthropology, demography, economics, history, language, literature, politics, religion, and sociology. Specialized issues are addressed through the University’s research programs, professional schools, and interdisciplinary centers. >>>

Africana Studies is the study, research, interpretation, and the dissemination of knowledge concerning African American, African, and Caribbean affairs and culture. Using the tools of the social sciences and humanities, Africana studies examines the structure, organization, problems, and perspectives of Blacks in Africa and the African Diaspora. Africana Studies also stresses analytical interpretations and policy prescriptions for social change in African American communities and various African and Caribbean nations. >>>

The African Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh was established in 2001 under the University Center for International Studies to promote the study and research of Africa as an area of concentration for students and faculty. African Studies provides students interested in Africa with the opportunities to expand and widen their knowledge of Africa as a world region, and foster a greater understanding of the forces that shape it. >>>

In 1994, The Africa Program was created to promote business, educational, and technological relations between Africa and the State of Texas. Africa represents the world’s new economic frontier - a vast, populous region of unlimited possibilities. As the second largest continent, Africa has enormous undeveloped natural resources and a growing consumer market of over 800 million people. Since education is the key to realizing the human resource potential that is essential for Africa’s overall development, the program emphasizes educational linkages between Africa and Texas. >>>

The African Studies Program coordinates teaching and research on Africa at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Formally established in 1962 and one of the earliest such programs in the country, it has trained Africa specialists in a variety of fields who are now teaching in the United States, in many African countries, and in Canada and Great Britain. Research by members of the Wisconsin African Studies Program has been fundamental in the fields of oral literature, folklore, history and political science. Assistance by the Wisconsin program to African universities and research institutes has helped establish major centers in several African countries. The African Studies Program has also pioneered in the field of African outreach programs in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. >>>

The African Studies Outreach Program was established in 1985 when the Council on African Studies (CAS) at Yale University was funded as a Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The program focuses on expanding and enhancing Africanist knowledge in local schools, colleges, and civic groups in Connecticut and throughout New England with several kinds of activities and events. >>>

Modern Africa poses challenges and opportunities worthy of serious study. From inspiring political leadership to poverty, economic development and major changes to health, Africa is a continent of global importance. African Studies offers undergraduate students an opportunity to explore the historic and cultural diversity of sub-Saharan African peoples. You will gain an understanding of the dynamics of the continent's social, political and economic systems and insights into the profound impact of African societies on many countries in Europe, the Near East and particularly North and South America and the Caribbean. >>>