Students who wish to construct a concentration in African Studies within the Ethnic Studies minor can do so with the help of several Africanist scholars across the College of Arts and Sciences and the university. These scholars work in a variety of disciplines including literature, political science, history, anthropology, music, women’s and gender studies, philosophy, French and Francophone studies, and post-colonial studies to name a few. Since the inception of the program, the Ethnic Studies Program has also collaborated with faculty in the School of Nursing, the School of Medicine, the School of Engineering, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

The ETHS Program regularly invites to campus scholars, writers, and community leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa and we have welcomed professors who work in our discipline in institutions in North America and Europe. We also can arrange study abroad opportunities in Cameroon through our cooperation with the University of Buea (ETHS/FRCH 338: The Cameroon Experience). We also offer a short-term study abroad course in Paris that focuses largely on African communities in France (FRCH/WLIT 335: The Paris Experience.)

Some of our invited guest lecturers have included:

Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, award-winning Kenyan novelist, activist, and Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UC-Irvine

Werewere Liking, acclaimed Cameroonian author, playwright, and artist and founder of the Pan-African Village Ki-yi Mbock in Abidjan, Cote-d’Ivoire

Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury, first woman novelist of Sub-Saharan Africa

Honorine Ngou, novelist, essayist, and Professor of French at Omar Bongo University in Libreville, Gabon

Tanella Boni, novelist, philosopher, and professor in Abidjan, Cote-d’Ivoire

Ifi Amadiume, Nigerian poet, essayist, anthropologist, and professor at Dartmouth College

Roger Mondoué, philosopher at the University of Dschang (Cameroon) and founder of L’Harmattan-Cameroon

Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Senegalese philosopher and professor at Columbia University

Edna Merey Apinda, novelist and poet from Port-Gentil, Gabon

Léonora Miano, award-winning Afro-French novelist residing in Paris, France

Nadia Origo, Afro-French geographer, novelist, and founder of Reflets Magazine on African Diversity, residing in Paris, France.

Alice Endamne, Afro-French novelist residing in San Diego, California

Joyce Endeley, Professor and Head of Women’s Studies, University of Buea, Cameroon

Nalova Lyonga, Professor of African Feminist Literature and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buea, Cameroon

 

For more information on the African Studies concentration, please contact Professor Cheryl Toman (cheryl.toman@case.edu) or Professor Gilbert Doho (gilbert.doho@case.edu).