African Studies

Mansa Musa

Program Supervisor: Zubairu Wai  Email: zuba.wai@utoronto.ca

The world cannot be understood without Africa. African Studies aims to widen students' knowledge and experience of the second largest and complex continent, its peoples, and their diasporas. In coming to terms with its great diversity, students will discover Africans' important contributions to the world's artistic, literary, political, and religious ideas.

In many program courses, Africa, its peoples, and their cultures are situated in relation to the wider world. The study of historical interconnections with Europe, Asia, and the Americas highlights Africa's central role in world history and processes of globalization. Throughout the program, students explore the exciting recent developments in our understanding of African civilizations, thought, political and religious systems, as well as histories of slavery, colonialism, and nationalism. A number of courses emphasize African, Caribbean, and African-American cultural and artistic responses to modernity, racism, and liberation, as well as struggles for security and development.

The program, as a whole, challenges students to think in new innovative directions about Africa across the disciplines and to reject preconceived myths and stereotypes. Students with a Minor Program in African Studies will gain strong skills in critical analysis, research, writing, and communications. The program aims to go further to encourage an awareness of the relationships between the production and application of knowledge and the wider forces of global change, as well as a love of intellectual challenges.

The five learning objectives for the Minor Program in African Studies are as follows:

  1. Promoting an understanding of Africa’s deep historical importance in the world.
  2. Promoting awareness of the cultural and social diversity of African/African diaspora cultures, religions, languages, music, literature, and film.
  3. Promoting theoretical and methodological understandings of the importance of ’de-colonizing the study of Africa and its diaspora’.
  4. Promoting and deepening knowledge of the challenges facing contemporary Africa in its global dimensions.
  5. Promoting and deepening knowledge about the African diaspora experience, historically and in its contemporary dimensions.

Students who intend to complete the Minor Program in African Studies should include AFSA01H3 in their first-year course selection. Certain elective courses (e.g., ENGD08H3 and FREC83H3)  have non-African Studies prerequisites. This may require that you take more than 4.0 credits to complete the program. Students should check the prerequisites carefully before selecting their courses.

For more information about the program and full list of courses, please click here.

Programs

  • Minor Program in African Studies 

Faculty

  • R. Antabe, M.A., Ph.D (Western Ontario), Assistant Professor
  • B. Dahl, Ph.D. (Chicago), Assistant Professor
  • G. Daswani, M.Sc., Ph.D. (London), Associate Professor
  • G. Dewar, M.A. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Cape Town), Associate Professor
  • H. Dinani, M.A., (Toronto), Ph.D. (Emory), Assistant Professor
  • A. Hachimi, M.A., Ph.D. (Hawaii), Associate Professor
  • E. Harney, M.Phil, Ph.D. (London), Associate Professor
  • M. Hunter, M.A. (Natal), Ph.D. (California, Berkeley), Professor
  • C.S. Hossein, M.P.A (Cornell), Ph.D. (Toronto), Associate Professor
  • A. Ilmi, B.A. (Ryerson), M.A. (Toronto), Ph.D. (Toronto), Assistant Professor
  • T. Kepe, M.Sc. (Guelph), Ph.D. (Western Cape), Professor
  • K. Kilroy-Marac, Ph.D. (Columbia), Associate Professor
  • N. Kortenaar, M.A., Ph.D. (Toronto), Professor
  • M. Lambek, M.A., Ph.D. (Michigan), Professor Emeritus
  • N. Massaquoi, M.S.W., Ph.D. (Toronto), Assistant Professor
  • J. Ndayiragije, M.A., Ph.D. (Montreal-UQAM), Associate Professor
  • S.J. Rockel, M.A., Ph.D. (Toronto), Associate Professor
  • W. Tettey, M.A (British Columbia), Ph.D. (Queen’s), Professor
  • K. Vernon, B.A., M.A. (Simon Fraser), Ph.D. (Victoria), Associate Professor
  • B. von Lieres, M.A. (Witwatersrand), Ph.D. (Essex), Assistant Professor
  • Z. Wai, M.A (International University of Japan), Ph.D. (York), Associate Professor