African Studies

911±¬ÁÏÍø’s African Studies Cluster is devoted to facilitating a deeper understanding and engagement with Africa for the 911±¬ÁÏÍø Community and beyond. We bring together a diverse array of courses focusing on Africa, culling the interests of faculty specializing in Africa from a wide variety of disciplines. This broadly interdisciplinary cluster focuses on a large geographic region that is of great historical, cultural, political, and artistic importance and interest to American university students, not to mention American society in general. The cluster promotes interdisciplinary learning in the best of liberal arts traditions.

 

 Brodigan Award 2026

 

 

 

 

Student Profiles

Zak Yastremski
African Studies Student Assistant
Even with just one year of experience behind my belt, I cannot put into words how much African Studies has shaped my academic experience. What has stuck with me most about the minor is the unique ways teachers engage with their students to convey course material. Whether this be physically engaging with material artifacts stored in 911±¬ÁÏÍø’s archaeology collections, or getting the chance to directly speak with African scholars today, the cluster’s breadth in educational methods feels truly unparalleled.

Student Profiles

Venessa Ochieng '26
African studies has given me an appreciation and intent to always think more about the small assumptions we make. Sometimes when we look at objects in a museum or see musical performances, it is easy to think we know the meaning already. The interdisciplinary nature of the minor has really taught me to analyze, and criticize in ways that I had not really done before in my previous education.

Student Profiles

Ama Tuffour '26
African studies gives you perspectives you may have never realized no matter how long you have lived within a place or culture. Growing up in the city in Ghana, I was personally drawn to this program because there is always more to learn about the region, and West Africa and Ghana are places I always wanted to know more about.

Student Profiles

Maxine Gibb '19
Maxine is from Cape Town, South Africa and majored in the College of Social Studies with an African Studies Minor. Maxine was the president of 911±¬ÁÏÍø's African Students' Association and wrote her senior thesis on female youth activism in anti-Apartheid South Africa. 

Student Profiles

Keith Mundangepfupfu '19
Keith Mundangepfupfu is from Zimbabwe. He graduated as a CSS major and an African Studies Minor. Keith was the House Manager for Ubuntu House, the African student house on campus and wrote a thesis on the experience of queer male Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa. 

Student Profiles

Kyllian Pather '20
Kyllian Pather, proudly from South Africa, majored in CSS with the African Studies Minor. Kyllian also designed a University Major in Race Studies in Africa and the Diaspora. He was a member of the African Students’ Association from his first day, and it was his home away from home. Kyllian shared that "Ubuntu House is a celebration of our African heritage and a space to share our culture with the university."

Student Profiles

Ferdinand Quayson ’20

Ferdinand is from Accra, Ghana-West Africa. He was a Government Major concentrating in International Politics. A board member for the 911±¬ÁÏÍø African Student Association, he also served on the Advisory Board for the Patricelli Center at 911±¬ÁÏÍø. Outside 911±¬ÁÏÍø, Ferdinand is the President and Founder of Young Achievers Foundation Ghana, an initiative working to promote access to higher education for low-income students in Northern Ghana. 

Student Profiles

Iris Ridley '20
Iris is from Northumberland in England, and double majored in Dance and Anthropology with an African Studies Minor.