Selected Sources on Africa/African Diaspora Studies

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The African Studies Advisory Board has an ongoing research project to identify some of the most useful resources in the study of Africa and its peoples for students to utilize in their coursework and research. Below you will find links to material not only available through the SLU library holdings but also useful web-based sources for research projects or for those students interested in post-graduate African Studies opportunities.

Major Websites:

Africa South of the Sahara Selected Internet Resources: Hosted by Stanford University this website allows one to search for African studies material on the web.

Useful Maps of Africa: A wonderful collection of online maps available for download by the University of Texas Austin.

www.allafrica.com: An important site for contemporary newspaper articles related to Africa. Brings together articles from dozens of African and international papers. Organized by theme and region and is also searchable.

CIA World Factbook: Use statistical data and brief country overviews of all African countries.

African History Sourcebook: Run through Fordham University, this a great resource to find free online primary sources in African history.

www.sahistory.org.za: A well run public history site with great resources for students on all aspects of South African History.

Overcoming Apartheid: A collection of teaching and research sources related to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Contains interviews, texts and some video.

www.onliberia.org: This is a website maintained by Indiana University which has an extensive collection on Liberia

www.sierra-leone.org: This website has many links to important documents, speeches, Friends of Sierra Leone around the world. 

Center for Research Libraries (CRL): The Center for Research Libraries is a repository for large collections of primary source material. Descriptions of their collections and their catalog are available on the CRL web site, and the site is linked from a number of places on our library web site. We have an interlibrary loan arrangement with CRL, so materials in the CRL collection you might be interested in can be requested through ILLiad. Simply use the appropriate ILLiad form (use a free text request for microfilm), and when making the request be sure to designate CRL requests as such. (Contact Michelle Gillie in the ODY Library for further assistance with CRL)

Syracuse Kenya National Archive Microfilm Collection: Syracuse University Library has an extensive collection of government documents from colonial Kenya contained on 157 reels of microfilm. Students interested in using this collection for research topics should contact Matt Carotenuto (History) and Paul Doty (Library) for assistance in ordering these via interlibrary loan.

Organizations:

 Africa Network: The mission of the Africa Network is to develop and enhance a lasting presence for Africa in the academic programs and campus life of the nation’s liberal arts institutions.

United Nations website: For research papers on international relations, peacekeeping, Aid, development and human rights, the UN website has a number of reports available.

The African Studies Association (ASA): ASA is the major professional organization in the United States for scholars and students of African Studies.  This association hosts annual conferences, and publishes two major journals, African Studies Review and African Issues Issue: A Journal of Opinion).

Human Rights Watch: A global watchdog organization that works extensively in Africa. This site includes a number of free reports and papers available in full text.

www.oxfam.org: Major international humanitarian organization with significant coverage of Africa/African issues.

UNICEF: A division of the United Nations which works with issues affecting children and youth worldwide. They maintain country specific pages and a number of reports and articles are available free online.

www.thecommonwealth.org: The Commonwealth is a major international organization of former British colonies now independent countries, many of which are in Africa and Caribbean regions.

Below are links to some of the major African Studies Centers and Programs in the U.S. which also can be important sources for finding out general African studies information or for those interested in professional opportunities in the field. Most offer graduate programs with competitive scholarship opportunities and have major research collections related to Africa. Centers that are funded by US Department of Education Title VI grants have a strong focus on the study of African languages and often also have excellent outreach programs designed to provide materials and assist people interested in teaching about Africa.

Other African Studies Programs World Wide:

Columbia University maintains a wider list of African Studies programs.