After Hiatus, African Institute Reopens

With new director Mamadou Diouf on board, the Institute of African Studies is back on its feet consolidating courses, programming lectures, and transforming Columbia University into a space for debate about Africa.

After a year in remission, Diouf, a renowned scholar of African studies, came to Columbia from the University of Michigan to direct the institute and shape its structure within the School of International and Public Affairs. Diouf’s appointment was followed by the announcement that African studies programs and languages would be housed within the Middle Eastern and Asian languages and cultures department.

Diouf stressed the distinction between the institute and its content, which is taught across many departments throughout the University. “I came here first of all as a professor of history from MEALAC ... with the idea of helping create within the department ... an African studies program,” Diouf said. He added that he hopes the University will change the name of the department to include Africa in a few years. Diouf himself teaches Pan-Africanism, a graduate-level comparative literature course in MEALAC about the intellectual history of African self-perception and identity.

There are several ways to study African studies at Columbia: Columbia College students can be regional studies majors focusing on Africa; Barnard College students can major in Africana Studies; SIPA Master of International Affairs candidates may concentrate on regional studies in Africa; and students in all Columbia graduate schools may take classes in order to achieve a certificate in African studies separate from their graduate degrees. Diouf said that during the institute’s hiatus, these courses and academic programs were still accessible to students.

But the role of IAS, Diouf said, is to be the “interlocutor” for students. He said that the institute extends beyond the International Affairs Building, functioning as a venue for consolidating resources from departments such as history, sociology, comparative literature, and MEALAC, among others. This interdisciplinary convergence is necessary “to make this place ... the greatest place for African issues, and a place where people are coming to debate.” He added that he is glad there is no separate department for African studies because that would “ghettoize” the field.

IAS is now in the phase of hiring an administrative staff beyond Diouf and two program assistants, Ginger Baker, SIPA MIA ’08, and Kawai Washburn, SIPA MIA ’08. Diouf said that they are hiring people to “organize the space” and to scour the institute’s archives to learn from its previous successes and errors. Christabel Dadzie, SIPA MIA ’07, who helped ensure the institute’s continuance, is also helping.

In the long-term, Diouf said IAS is striving to receive an endowment fund. “I hope that I will be able to convince the administration that it is absolutely necessary to do that ... to allow us to come up with a very solid program,” Diouf said.

According to Baker and Diouf, although many of the students who exerted their efforts to reopen the institute have graduated, many incoming students are interested in learning about Africa. IAS administered a survey to these students earlier in the semester to ensure that the institute can cater to their specific needs.

“I am going to ... make sure that we have a program and we are interacting with undergrad students, graduate students, in SIPA, outside of SIPA, [and] the public health graduate students,” Diouf said. He added that the institute is for everyone— Columbians, New Yorkers, Africans, and the world—as a neutral ground for posing questions.

Joy Resmovits can be reached at joy.resmovits@columbiaspectator.com.