Reflections for Crossing the Waters: Before the Dakar–Gorée Swim

This weekend in Senegal, Ania Ueno, our Communications & Media Manager at the Center for African Studies, will join hundreds of swimmers in the annual Dakar–Gorée Swim—a powerful event that bridges athletic challenge with profound historical reflection. The crossing from Dakar to Gorée Island carries deep symbolic meaning, tied to memory, resilience, and the African diaspora’s enduring ties across the Atlantic. 

Read Africa Fall 2025

Akwaaba: Welcome to Ghana - Reflection from Twi Immersion Program

By Ashley Agyeman, Undergraduate Student, Political Science 

A Tribute to our Founding Director, Professor Mbye Cham

The Center for African Studies and the African Studies community at Howard is profoundly saddened to report the passing of our Founding Director and Distinguished Professor Mbye Cham at the age of 78. A pioneer filmmaker and Professor of African Literature and Film, Dr. Cham spent his entire teaching and scholarly career at Howard University and leaves an indelible imprint on African Studies at our institution.

CFP for Robert R. Edgar International Conference

On the occasion of honoring the legacy of Professor Robert R. Edgar, Conference organizers invite scholars, emerging and established, to propose papers and presentations for a conference at the University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. The conference will be titled: "Legacies of Immersive Social History: Past, Present and Future: A Conference in Honour of the Life, Work and Communities of Robert R. Edgar"

Paper proposals due: 31 July 2025

Lessons from Sobukwe, Africa’s Son of the Soil and Prison No. 1 on Robben Island

at the bottom. --> function printDiv(divName) { var printContents = document.getElementById(divName).innerHTML; w=window.open(); w.document.write(printContents); w.print(); w.close(); }

Howard University students delve into Zulu language and life on the Expresso Show in South Africa!

Expresso Show in South Africa speaks with Howard University's Zulu lecturer, Dr. Sipho Sithole, and his students, while they study abroad in South Africa, as part of the HUZISA Program at Howard.

Media

Center for African Studies awards record number of summer FLAS fellowships

The Center for African Studies has awarded $190,000 in summer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to a record 20 undergraduate students to study African languages and cultures in four countries in Summer 2025. In addition to continuing its support of established study abroad programs for Zulu (South Africa) and Swahili (Kenya), the Center will achieve another milestone by supporting the return of Wolof (Senegal) and welcoming an inaugural program for Twi (Ghana).

Fourth Out of (and Into) Africa Conference