Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T13:27:20.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Development of African Studies in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Carol A. Dressel
Carol A. Dressel*
Affiliation:
Office of Institutional Research, Michigan State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The earliest interest in Africa among institutions of higher education in the United States was probably that of denominational colleges which trained missionaries for Africa and other areas. But their motivation was to bring the fruits of Western civilization to non-Western areas, and this had no effect on the college curriculum of the nineteenth century. The missionary interest has continued in at least one major African studies program. The Hartford Seminary Foundation offers courses on missionary problems, African religions, and Christianity in Africa. It also teaches several African languages.

Northwestern University has had an interest in African anthropology which dates back to 1927. No available information, however, has revealed whether courses then offered included the study of Africa.

During World War II, there was an abortive attempt to organize an International Conference on Africa, and just after the war, an instructor at Colby Junior College included the study of African literature in an English course. The Carnegie Corporation aided the development of African studies by extending their grants for area studies to the African field, giving funds for fellowships and sending small groups of scholars to Africa for “look-see” tours. Superficial as these tours may have been, a number of their participants later became Africanists.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , December 1966 , pp. 66 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1966

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

“The African Studies Association,” African Studies Bulletin, I, No. 1 (04 1958), 3–5.Google Scholar
Axelrod, Joseph, and Bigelow, Donald N.. Inventory of NDEA: Title VI Language and Area Centers. Washington, D. C., American Council on Education, 07 1961.Google Scholar
Bennett, Wendell C. Area Studies in American Universities. New York, Social Science Research Council, 06 1951.Google Scholar
Bidwell, Percy W. Undergraduate Education in Foreign Affairs. New York, King's Crown Press, 1962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bigelow, Donald N., and Legters, Lyman H.. NDEA; Language and Area Centers; A Report on the First Five Years. Washington, D. C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964.Google Scholar
Bordie, John G., ed. National Conference on the Teaching of African Language and Area Studies. Washington, D. C., Georgetown University, 03 1960.Google Scholar
Brokensha, David. “African Studies in the United States,” African Studies Bulletin, VII, No. 1 (03 1964), 12–24.Google Scholar
Brokensha, David. “African Studies in the United States,” African Studies Bulletin, VIII, No. 1 (04 1965), 1–28.Google Scholar
Brown, Hugh S., and Mayhew, Lewis B.. American Higher Education. New York, Center for Applied Research in Education, 1965.Google Scholar
Cole, Fred. International Relations in Institutions of Higher Education in the South. Washington, D. C., American Council on Education, 1958.Google Scholar
Commission on International Understanding. Non-Western Studies in the Liberal Arts College. Washington, D. C., Association of American Colleges, 1964.Google Scholar
Committee on the University and World Affairs. The University and World Affairs. New York, Ford Foundation, 1960.Google Scholar
Cowan, L. Gray. “Conference on the Teaching of African Languages,” African Studies Bulletin, VII, No. 3 (10 1964), 12.Google Scholar
Drake, Lyman. “African Studies Association Meets,” Africa Special Report, III, No. 10 (10 1958), 1.Google Scholar
Hanna, William J. “Image-Making in Field Research: Some Tactical and Ethical Problems Arising from Research in Tropical Africa,” African Studies Bulletin, VII, No. 4 (12 1964), 42–43.Google Scholar
Herskovits, Melville J. “Editorial,” African Studies Bulletin, I, No. 1 (04 1958), 1–2.Google Scholar
Herskovits, Melville J.. “Some Thoughts on American Research in Africa,” African Studies Bulletin, I, No. 2 (11 1958), 1–11.Google Scholar
Jolly, David. “Northwestern University's Africana Collection,” African Studies Bulletin, II, No. 1 (01 1959), 9–12.Google Scholar
Kirk, Grayson. The Study of International Relations. New York, Council on Foreign Relations, 1947.Google Scholar
Legters, Lyman H. “The National Defense Education Act and African Studies,” African Studies Bulletin, VII, No. 3 (10 1964), 3–10.Google Scholar
Southall, Aidan. “African Studies: Where Are We Going?” African Studies Bulletin, VII, No. 4 (12 1964), 7.Google Scholar
Swift, Richard N. World Affairs and the College Curriculum. Washington, D. C., American Council on Education, 1959.Google Scholar
“Training and Career Opportunities for the American Specialist on Africa,” African Studies Bulletin, II, No. 4 (12 1959), 13–26.Google Scholar
Welmers, William E. “African Studies and the National Defense Education Act,” African Studies Bulletin, II, No. 3 (08 1959), 34–39.Google Scholar
Welmers, William E.. “Present Resources for the Teaching of Major African Languages,” in Bordie, John G., ed., National Conference on the Teaching of African Language and Area Studies. Washington, D. C., Georgetown University, 03 1960.Google Scholar