African Studies

Faculty of the Committee on African Studies

Jacob Olupona, Professor of African and African American Studies and Professor of African Religious Traditions (FAS), Professor of African Religious Traditions (Divinity School) (Chair)
Rawi Abdelal, Associate Professor of Business Administration (Business School)
Leila N. Ahmed, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity (Divinity School)
Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, Harvard College Professor and Professor of History and of African and African American Studies
Ali S. Asani, Professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Cultures
Robert H. Bates, Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and Professor of African and African American Studies
Suzanne P. Blier, Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and Professor of African and African American Studies
Rita M. Breen, Executive Officer for the Committee on African Studies
Felton J. Earls, Professor of Social Medicine (Medical School) and Professor of Human Behavior and Development (Public Health)
Caroline M. Elkins, Hugh K. Foster Associate Professor of African Studies
Majid Ezzati, Associate Professor of International Health (Public Health)
Wafaie W. Fawzi, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology (Public Health)
Deborah D. Foster, Senior Lecturer on Folklore and Mythology
Duana Fullwiley, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and of African and African American Studies
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. University Professor (on leave spring term)
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies (ex officio)
Allan G. Hill, Andelot Professor of Demography (Public Health)
Nahomi Ichino, Assistant Professor of Government (on leave fall term)
Francis Abiola Irele, Visiting Professor of African and African American Studies and of Romance Languages and Literatures
Biodun Jeyifo, Professor of African and African American Studies and of Literature and Comparative Literature
Matthew Jukes, Assistant Professor (Education School)
Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development (Kennedy School)
Michael R. Kremer, Gates Professor of Developing Societies
Harry S. Martin III, Henry N. Ess III Librarian and Professor of Law (Law School)
J. Lorand Matory, Professor of Anthropology and of African and African American Studies
Jens Meierhenrich, Assistant Professor of Government and of Social Studies
Ingrid Monson, Quincy Jones Professor of African-American Music, Supported by the Time Warner Endowment
John M. Mugane, Professor of the Practice of African Languages and Cultures and Director of the African Language Program
Pauline E. Peters, Lecturer on Anthropology (FAS) and Lecturer on Public Policy (Kennedy School)
Matthias Schündeln, Assistant Professor of Economics and of Social Studies (on leave 2007-08)
Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African American Studies, Associate of Currier House (on leave 2007-08)
Debora L. Spar, Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration (Business School)
Lucie E. White, Louis A. Horvitz Professor of Law (Law School)
Richard K. Wolf, Professor of Music

The Committee on African Studies is a multidisciplinary group of scholars appointed by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to coordinate teaching and research on Africa within Harvard’s departments and faculties. It is primarily concerned with the planned development of African studies in the University as a whole. Since it is also the Committee’s goal to advance knowledge and understanding of African peoples throughout the University, it sponsors lectures, seminars, conferences, films, and exhibitions on Africa. Its non-credit Africa Seminar is open to all faculty members and students. The Committee offers undergraduate summer grants for senior honors thesis study and graduate dissertation research grants for travel to Africa. Students can subscribe to a weekly e-mail listing of Harvard Africa events by writing to rbreen@fas.harvard.edu. For additional information on African studies at Harvard, consult the Committee’s website at www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica or email cafrica@fas.harvard.edu.

Undergraduates interested in pursuing a degree in African Studies should consult the African and African American Studies chapter in this catalog. That department also offers a number of courses on African topics and has an African language program, which teaches over ten languages.

The following FAS departments offer courses on Africa. A more detailed description of these courses may be found in this catalog under the appropriate department or committee.

Departments with Courses of Interest:



In addition to the departmental offerings in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, courses on Africa can also be found in the catalogs of the Schools of Public Health, Education, Law, Divinity, Business, and the Kennedy School of Government.