Department of African Studies

Photo by Eva Blue on Unsplash - African Fabric

Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. – Guinean Proverb

Major in African Studies at Howard.

What matters to you—and what contribution do you want to make?

Whether you want to alleviate poverty, protect human rights, expand opportunities for women, children, and youth, or help prevent conflict and build lasting peace, African Studies invites you to investigate questions that matter. Explore how communities conserve their environments, preserve cultural heritage, and navigate technological change—and deepen your understanding through languages, literature, the arts, and culture.

African Studies connects these interests through sustained study of Africa, its peoples, and its relationships with the diaspora and the wider world. Examine contemporary questions of politics, development, education, and social justice alongside histories, philosophies, and creative expression.

Prepare to lead—and to serve—across communities, institutions, and borders. Develop your ability to investigate complex questions, evaluate evidence, understand different perspectives, and communicate with clarity and purpose. These abilities support informed judgment and prepare you to pursue leadership roles around the world.

Explore how that knowledge could support your future in international development, diplomacy, entrepreneurship, environmental conservation, law, medicine, public policy, education, language and cultural work, the arts, or community service.

Bring your questions. Find your intellectual community. Begin building your contribution.

Speak with an African Studies faculty member to explore the major and review how it could fit your degree plan.

Howard University’s Department of African Studies is one of the oldest African Studies departments in the United States. Within Howard’s historically Black intellectual tradition, the department advances the study of Africa and Africans and their contributions to humanity.

Offering B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees, the department brings an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary Africa and its historical and global connections. Students engage with African thinkers, researchers, educators, artists, leaders, and communities as producers of knowledge and participants in shaping the world.

Our graduates pursue careers in education, international development, multilateral institutions, nonprofits, and civil service in the United States and across Africa, as well as further study around the world. Through a liberal arts and social science education, the department prepares students for lives of inquiry, service, and global leadership.

Choosing African Studies at Howard means joining this pioneering tradition—and beginning your own chapter within it.

Current Howard Students: Declare a Major or Minor

Interested in majoring or minoring in African Studies? Contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Flordeliz T. Bugarin, at fbugarin@howard.edu to discuss your interests, review how the program could fit your degree plan, and receive guidance on declaring.

Prospective Undergraduate Students: Apply to Howard

Select African Studies as your intended major on your admissions application. Visit Howard’s undergraduate admissions website for application information. For questions about the African Studies B.A. program, contact Dr. Flordeliz T. Bugarin at fbugarin@howard.edu.

Graduate Applicants: Apply for the M.A. or Ph.D.

Explore the Graduate School’s application deadlines and requirements to begin your application for the M.A. or Ph.D. in African Studies. For questions about the programs, contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Esther Lisanza, at esther.lisanza@howard.edu.

Mwanafunzi Wa Chuo (The Swahili Words for College Student)

African language instruction at Howard University is done in the Department of World Language & Cultures, which offers courses in Amharic, Arabic, Somali, Swahili, Yoruba, Wolof, and Zulu. The Center for African Studies offers fellowships to graduate and undergraduate students who wish to study these languages.

Visit the Center for African Studies website to find Africa-related fellowships, scholarships, grants, jobs, internships, calls for papers, CfAS news and academic news.

The Center for African Studies provides Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships through funding from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program. FLAS Fellowships support students taking African languages (Amharic, Arabic, Somali, Swahili, Wolof, Yoruba and Zulu) and area studies coursework. The fellowships support intensive for-credit study of an African language and to promote the development of competency in African Studies either in the United States or abroad. Find out more about the FLAS Fellowship.

The Graduate School maintains a list of funding opportunities for new and current students.

The Center for African Studies provides Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships through funding from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program. FLAS Fellowships support students taking African languages (Amharic, Arabic, Somali, Swahili, Wolof, Yoruba and Zulu) and area studies coursework. The fellowships support intensive for-credit study of an African language and to promote the development of competency in African Studies either in the United States or abroad.

The Rangel Program is a U.S. State Department program administered by Howard University that seeks to attract and prepare outstanding young people for careers as diplomats in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State.

The USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship Program seeks to attract outstanding individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs. A candidate will submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the U.S.

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program for American students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities. The program includes intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains.

The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is a grant program that enables students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, thereby gaining skills critical to our national security and economic prosperity. The Institute of International Education has administered the program since its inception in 2001.