Institute of African Studies to Reopen in Fall

The revival of the Institute of African Studies came to fruition as a collaborative effort between students and the University's administration this year.

School of International and Public Affairs Dean Lisa Anderson suspended the IAS a year ago due to funding and space constraints. The institute had gone through interim leadership in the two years since Mahmood Mamdani stepped down, lacking a full-time permanent director since 2004.

"We decided we had come to Columbia because of its African Institute, and that wasn't there so ... we went to the administration and said you need to open it up," said Christabel Dadzie, SIPA '07 and president of the school's Pan-Africa Network.

"It's odd to feel we're a leading institution for African development who at one point didn't have an African institute," Laura McGorman, CC '07 and SPAN member, said at the African Economic Forum.

At an October meeting with SPAN leaders, Vice President for Arts and Sciences Nicholas Dirks spoke about recent faculty appointments focused on Africa in the departments of anthropology, art history, history, and political science. Dirks also said that the Middle East and Asian languages and cultures department would soon become the Africa, Middle East, and Asia studies department.

After lobbying the administration and alumni for funding and action, students said they were satisfied with the work that was being done to rejuvenate IAS. "The school listened to our call and continued their search to a director," Dadzie said.

In early December, professor Mamadou Diouf of the University of Michigan confirmed that he would take over as the institute's director. His tenure begins on July 1.

Following Diouf's appointment, he visited the University and attended a meeting with University officials and students who were interested in reopening IAS. At the meeting, he called on the students present to express their needs for the nascent institute.

"I'm not going to fix it myself," Diouf said at the meeting. "I am really relying on students to ... be a part of it."

The future of the institute is very much up in the air, depending chiefly on future faculty hires and student involvement. "Whatever plan Diouf comes up with, there will be a strategic plan that involves hiring of administration and faculty," Dadzie said. "The institute is not going to be back and jumping next year. It's going to take a couple of years to get it back on its feet."