Collaborate & celebrate
At the Center for African Studies
We work collaboratively with our constituents to investigate, narrate and celebrate global African life and cultures.
Upcoming Events
- The Center for African Studies was honored to welcome back Professor Paul Tiyambe Zeleza on November 18. A former CAS Director (1995–2003), he now serves as Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives and Professor of African Studies at Howard University.During his visit, Professor Zeleza delivered a... Read full story Former Director Paul Tiyambe Zeleza Returns to CAS for Lecture on Global Higher Education
- CAS and our sister center, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the University YMCA embarked on a large project with support from Illinois Extension to conceptualize and produce short cooking videos by immigrant cooks in our communities who hailed from African and Latin American... Read full story Out Now!!! New Immigrants Foodways Videos
- Established through the generosity of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign alumnus, former US Ambassador Eric Whitaker '78 and ’81, these funds recognize and encourage undergraduates with demonstrated engagement with African Studies to pursue careers in public service. The 2024-... Read full story Spring 2025 Whitaker Undergraduate Scholarship and Grant Awards
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Preparing the next generation of students in the new global age
The Center works with other units to promote the study of Africa as widely as possible. Such efforts include arranging visiting appointments for scholars on Africa, providing for visiting lectures, mentoring students, developing teaching aids, and organizing seminars, conferences, and symposia where people can exchange ideas. Browse our library of signature talks.
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Explore our graduate programs
The graduate program in African Studies includes a two-year master's program, a joint MA in African Studies and an MS in Library Information Science, as well as a graduate minor open to all master and doctoral students. The program exposes students to many facets of Africa and to many ways of looking at various issues relating to the continent from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Introduction to Modern Africa
Modern Africa has sustained the world's most rapid and profound changes following centuries of the Atlantic slave trade and colonialism. The African continent saw its social systems, economic structures, political organizations, and religious and cultural practices profoundly transformed by centuries of European imperialism.
Seminar Abroad: Benin
This course seeks to investigate current and past approaches to the "Africa development problem" and challenge preconceived notions of development and globalization in the context of Benin; students will examine impacts on local individual actors and the variety of ways in which these realities are navigated.
New Immigrants Foodways Videos
CAS embarked on a large project with support from Illinois Extension to conceptualize and produce short cooking videos by immigrant cooks in our communities who hail from African and Latin American countries. We started this project during the COVID pandemic, and though it has taken time to bring to fruition, we are pleased to now share the fruits of our labor. Our team conducted research, recruited cooks, provided training, filmed in a university facility, and carried out editing and production. The goal is to highlight the richness of immigrant cooking traditions while also offering insights into nutrition and new ingredients. You can find links to the videos of the African dishes here and the Latin American dishes here.
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Global Impact
The Center for African Studies is part of the Illinois Global Institute (IGI), which was established in 2019 as the home of the university’s area and global studies centers and thematic programs.