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| Pittsburgh African Studies Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Pittsburgh African Studies Center |
| Formation | 1968 |
| Type | Research institute |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Location | University of Pittsburgh |
| Leader title | Director |
Pittsburgh African Studies Center
The Pittsburgh African Studies Center is an interdisciplinary research institute based at the University of Pittsburgh that promotes scholarship on the African continent and the African diaspora. It convenes faculty, graduate students, visiting scholars, and community partners to support teaching, research, and public programming related to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and other African countries. The Center engages with museums, libraries, and development organizations such as the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Museum of Art, and international partners like the British Museum.
Founded in the late 1960s, the Center grew out of area initiatives linked to the University of Pittsburgh and local institutions including the Carnegie Mellon University anthropology and history communities. Early collaborations involved scholars associated with the Smithsonian Institution and visiting fellows from the University of Nairobi, Makerere University, and University of Ibadan. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Center hosted conferences that brought together figures such as researchers from the National Museum of Mali, curators from the Tate Gallery, and activists connected to movements like the Anti-Apartheid Movement and delegations representing African National Congress. Grants from foundations such as the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation supported fieldwork in regions including the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the Center expanded its remit to include digital humanities projects in partnership with the Library of Congress and archival exchanges with institutions such as the National Archives. Visiting scholars included historians and anthropologists trained at University of Cape Town, University of Lagos, SOAS University of London, and Columbia University. The Center also coordinated area studies consortia that interfaced with federal initiatives involving the United States Agency for International Development and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Center’s mission is to facilitate interdisciplinary scholarship, public engagement, and curricular development concerning African societies and diasporic communities. Programs encompass graduate fellowships, postdoctoral awards, language instruction collaborations in Swahili, Amharic, and Yoruba with departments at the University of Pittsburgh, and lecture series featuring speakers from institutions such as Harvard University, Princeton University, Oxford University, and Université Cheikh Anta Diop.
Signature programming has included workshops on heritage preservation with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, seminars on contemporary politics with analysts formerly associated with Chatham House and the Brookings Institution, and film series in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Center issues small research grants supported by donors including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and partners with professional societies like the African Studies Association and the Society for Ethnomusicology.
Academic activities integrate faculty across departments such as History, Anthropology, Political Science, and programs in Area Studies (linked departmental names only when proper nouns above). Research themes have ranged from precolonial state formation in the era of the Mali Empire and the Oyo Empire to studies of postcolonial governance in nations like Mozambique and Zimbabwe, as well as urban studies focusing on cities such as Lagos, Cairo, and Johannesburg.
The Center has supported field research on topics related to cultural heritage with collaborators from the International Institute for Environment and Development and published working papers coauthored with colleagues at Yale University, University of Chicago, and Stanford University. Faculty affiliates have included historians who studied archives at the National Archives of the United Kingdom and political scientists who analyzed elections in Kenya and Ghana.
The Center curates a range of resources including a research library of monographs, serials, maps, and digital collections assembled with partners such as the Heinz History Center and the Heinz Endowments. Holdings include primary source materials on colonial administration from repositories like the Public Record Office and manuscript collections documenting oral histories gathered in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art.
Digital initiatives have digitized photographs, sound recordings, and documentary film in partnership with the Library of Congress and the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service. The Center’s archives complement university holdings that include special collections on African art associated with the Carnegie Museum of Art and ethnographic documentation derived from fieldwork by scholars connected to Columbia University Press publications.
Community outreach emphasizes collaboration with local African diaspora organizations, K–12 educators, and cultural institutions such as the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The Center has organized public lectures featuring diplomats and policymakers from the United Nations, former ministers from countries like Botswana and Rwanda, and human rights activists from groups including Amnesty International.
Partnerships extend internationally to universities such as University of Pretoria, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, and Cairo University for faculty exchanges and joint curriculum development. Local initiatives include teacher training workshops with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and community oral-history projects with neighborhood groups and churches linked to the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Administratively housed within the University of Pittsburgh's global studies infrastructure, the Center occupies office and seminar space near the university libraries and collaborates with units such as the University Library System. Governance typically includes a director, an advisory board of faculty and external experts drawn from institutions like Duke University, Indiana University Bloomington, and the University of Pennsylvania, and staff managing fellowships and public programs.
Facilities support seminars, conferences, and visiting scholar residencies and are equipped with audiovisual capabilities for streaming events with partner institutions including the Brookings Institution and the Wilson Center. The Center’s administrative model follows practices common to major area studies centers and relies on mixed funding from endowments, grants, and university support.
Category:African studies organizations