African Studies

Steering Committee

Yvonne A. Braun, sociology

Ken DeBevoise, political science

André Djiffack, Romance languages

Jenifer P. Craig, dance

John Fenn, music

Stephen R. Frost, anthropology

Dennis C. Galvan, international studies

Ibrahim J. Gassama, law

Lisa M. Gilman, English

Rita Honka, dance

Karen McPherson, Romance languages

Dayo Nicole Mitchell, honors college

Doris L. Payne, linguistics

Greg Ringer, planning, public policy and ­management

H. Leslie Steeves, journalism and communication

Tania Triana, Romance languages

Peter A. Walker, geography

Janis C. Weeks, biology

Anne Williams, international programs

Stephen R. Wooten, international studies

About the Program

The African studies committee encourages teaching and scholarship on sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the wider African diaspora. The program is a focal point for students and faculty members with expertise in African studies, encouraging course offerings related to Africa, promoting study-abroad programs and internships, raising funds to expand African studies resources, and organizing campus and local community events pertaining to Africa. In addition, the committee supports faculty and student research on Africa and facilitates dissemination of research through the regularly held Baobab Lectures, for faculty and guest presentations, and the Acacia Seminars, for presentations of student research and experiences.

Students may earn an undergraduate minor in African studies.

Overseas Opportunities

The university sponsors a summer journalism program in Ghana as well as a summer international studies program in Dakar, Senegal. UO students may apply to study at the University of Ghana; the University of Cape Town or Stellenbosch University, South Africa; or the University Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal, through the Council on International Educational Exchange. Students may also choose one of nineteen programs in thirteen African countries sponsored by the School for International Training—Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda. Financial aid is available for all these programs. Information may be requested from the International Affairs office; telephone (541) 346-3207.

Students in all University of Oregon study-abroad programs enroll in courses with subject codes that are unique to individual programs. Special course numbers are reserved for overseas study. See International Programs in the Academic Resources section of this catalog. Students may earn academic credit while gaining career-related work experience through internships in sub-Saharan Africa overseen by the IE3 Global Internships program. Financial aid is available. Information may be requested from the International Affairs office.

African Language Study

The UO offers first- and second-year Arabic or Swahili as part of the university’s new World Languages Academy, which offers less commonly taught languages in a traditional five-hours-per-week, 5-credit format. Arabic and Swahili courses through the academy will satisfy the university’s two-year B.A. foreign-language requirement.

The University of Oregon also offers opportunities for self-study, with the assistance of native speakers, in Wolof, Bamana-Dyula, Hausa-Fulani, Shona, and other languages by request. Information is available from the Yamada Language Center; telephone (541) 346-4011.

Minor in African Studies

Students who want to earn an undergraduate minor in African studies must satisfy the following requirements:

Four Required Courses (16 credits).

1. Introduction to African Studies (HUM 315)

2. One 4-credit course in African history, selected from the following: Precolonial Africa (HIST 325), Colonial and Postcolonial Africa (HIST 326)

3. One 4-credit course in contemporary African issues, selected from among the following: Africa Today: Issues and Concerns (INTL 345), Society and Culture in Modern Africa (HIST 417), Development and Social Change in Sub-Saharan Africa (INTL 445), Political Ecology (ENVS 450), Sociology of Developing Areas (SOC 450), Advanced Geography of Non-European-American Regions: Africa—Politics, Development, and Environment (GEOG 475)

4. One 4-credit course in African culture, ethnicity, and identity, selected from among the following: Culture et langage: identités francophones (FR 303), Exploring Other Cultures: African Masks and Meanings (ANTH 310), Anthropological Perspectives on Africa (ANTH 327), African Women’s History (HIST 416), Comparative Tribalisms (INTL 447), 20th-Century Literature: Postcolonial Africa (FR 490)

Electives (12 credits). Must be upper division; 8 credits must be at the 400 level. Recommended courses include any of the courses listed above, or the following (any other substitutions must be approved by an African studies minor adviser): Dance and Folk Culture: Africa and the Diaspora (DAN 301), Social Issues and Movements (SOC 313), Music in World Cultures (MUS 358), Francophone Literature and Culture (FR 361), Experimental Course: Ethnography of Postcolonial Africa (ANTH 410), African Regional Histories (HIST 419), International Community Development (INTL 420), Introduction to Ethnomusicology (MUS 451), Musical Instruments of the World (MUS 452), Third World Development Communication (J 455), Repertory Dance Company: Rehearsal: Dance Africa (DAN 481), 20th-Century Literature: The Absurd and the Fantastic (FR 490), Seminar: Political Ecology (ENVS 607)

Advanced Research Requirement (4 credits). At least one 400-level course that requires a research paper and has at least 50 percent Africa content. For students who have studied or completed an internship in Africa, the paper should be based on primary source data gathered during that experience. For other students, the research paper should include an original argument or line of interpretation based on secondary sources.

Experiencing Africa. Choose one of the following options:

1. 15 credits of college-level study of an African language. Possibilities include Arabic, Swahili, Wolof, or one year of another approved language. Although English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish are the first languages of many African citizens, they may not be used to satisfy this requirement.

2. One term of study in Africa or a one-term internship in Africa with a minimum of 12 credits. For study abroad, courses will be evaluated for UO credit through the standard International Affairs procedures for assigning credit and course equivalency. For internships, students will consult the faculty member who is sponsoring their internship credits to prepare an agreement that must include the following: (a) a list of readings relevant to the experience, which are to be completed prior to and during the internship; (b) a reflective journal on the student’s activities and cross-cultural experiences; and (c) a final paper integrating preparatory readings and internship experience (approximately 4,500 words, plus references). An African studies minor adviser must approve the credits earned in study-abroad or internship programs.

Restrictions: No more than 8 credits toward the minor may be from courses with less than 50 percent Africa content, and no more than 4 credits may be from music or dance performance courses. Students must consult with an African studies adviser to confirm that curricular overlap between the student’s major and the African studies minor maintains the principle of academic breadth.

Graduate Studies

Arranging a graduate degree program with a concentration in African studies is possible in a number of departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Music and Dance. Anthropology, biology, dance, environmental studies, French (in the Romance languages department), folklore, geography, history, international studies, linguistics, political science, and sociology have faculty members with expertise and strong interest in this area.