Many programs at Harvard focus on African Studies: Sidebar

By Eileen K. McCluskey

Special to the Gazette

If you know how to type in a Web address, then you can reach a remarkably comprehensive source to learn about all things African at Harvard (and beyond). For those who are shy of the Web or prefer to speak person-to-person, telephone numbers are provided wherever possible:

To find the source for all things African at the University, visit the Harvard Committee on African Studies' Website, at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica. These Web pages are rigorously updated and contain most if not all Africa-related information within and without the University. The Committee on African Studies is an interdisciplinary group of scholars appointed by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to coordinate teaching and research and to advance knowledge and understanding of Africa at Harvard. Among its many activities, the Committee sponsors the Harvard Africa Seminar to explore issues of importance to Africa or scholarship on Africa. It also offers grants to Harvard juniors and seniors for summer travel in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as an undergraduate honors certificate. To be placed on the Committee's mailing list or to find out more about its diverse programs, call 495-5265. The general e-mail address is cafrica@fas.harvard.edu.

Another way to start exploring Africa-related events is at this Website: http://www.news.harvard.edu/mandela. Click on "background" off the main menu to learn about Africa-related courses, museum exhibits, visiting scholars, and more, throughout the University.

For the latest African events at Harvard, call the Committee on African Studies (495-5265), or view the calendar at: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica/calendar.shtml. This calendar includes a far-reaching range of events throughout the University, and is updated at least twice each week.

To receive weekly e-mail listings of African events, send a request via e-mail to the Committee on African Studies' executive officer, Rita Breen, at rbreen@fas.harvard.edu.

The Committee on African Studies will sponsor a talk by Carla Lentz of Goethe University, Frankfurt, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., titled ÒAgricultural Extension in Changing Contexts: Settlement Histories in Southwestern Burkina Faso.Ó

The Committee on African Studies will also sponsor, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., a talk by Edward Kissi of Yale University. Kissi will speak on ÒSocialism, Revolution and Ethnic Nationalism in Ethiopia, 1974-77.Ó

ÒThe Art of Identity: African Sculpture from the Teel CollectionÓ is a long-term special exhibit at the Fogg Art Museum, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. The exhibition brings together selections of African sculpture from the William E. and Bertha L. Teel Collection, an extraordinary group of pieces from sub-Saharan Africa that were compiled over nearly 35 years. Sixty-eight sculptures are on display. For more information call 495-9400.

ÒJu/wasi: Bushmen of the KalahariÓ is an ongoing, multimedia exhibit at the Peabody Museum (496-1027). The exhibition features ethnographic and archaeological artifacts, videos, and photographs covering the life of the Bushmen from prehistory to the present.

The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research is the nation's oldest research center dedicated to the study of the history, culture, and social institutions of African Americans. Named after the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University (in 1896), the Institute also sponsors two major lecture series each year, and serves as the co-sponsor for numerous public conferences, lectures, readings, and forums. The Institute's Website is http://web-dubois.fas.harvard.edu. Its main telephone number is 495-4192.

The Harvard African Humanities Institute is a joint project of the Harvard Committee on African Studies and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research. It brings scholars based in institutions in sub-Saharan Africa to Harvard for one or two semesters during the academic year. The Institute's telephone number is 495-5265, and the e-mail address is cafrica@fas.harvard.edu. The Web address is http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica/institute.shtml.

A number of places within the University also offer seminars and workshops on Africa. Some of these sources include:

the School of Public Health (with five of its programs' Websites linked to: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica/program.shtml);

the Harvard AIDS Institute (432-4400);

the Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research;

the multidisciplinary Harvard Africa Seminar (call 495-5265);

the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, which sponsors a seminar series (jointly with the Harvard Institute for International Development) focusing on politics and economy. The Web address is http://data.fas.harvard.edu/cfia/.

Also included at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica/program.shtml are programs with Africa presentations and lectures on an ad hoc basis, such as the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government and the Human Rights Program at the Law School. You will also find here information on programs with African and Africanist fellows, research and visiting fellows programs, Internet programs, examples of ongoing Harvard field projects in Africa, and examples of formal Harvard faculty linkages in Africa.

Africa-related video collections can be found at the Tozzer, Widener, and Music libraries; http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica/resources.shtml will tell you more.

You can obtain descriptions of courses within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences that are either entirely or partially about Africa by surfing the Web to http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica/course99.html. A rich variety of courses are included, in subjects ranging from anthropology to English, history to medical sciences.

It's worth mentioning that the Harvard Website at www.fas.harvard.edu/~cafrica/links.shtml contains a far-reaching list of non-Harvard African studies Websites, including news links, studies centers in various universities, research and teaching resources, and other African-related sites.

If your department, museum, or school is engaged in anything African-related that is not noted above, please call the Committee on African Studies at 495-5265, and ask to be mentioned on its Website. The e-mail address is rbreen@fas.harvard.edu.