Prospective Students
African Studies at Oxford University: An Overview
The University of Oxford is a leading centre for the study of Africa, attracting large numbers of graduate students and academic researchers. A University African Studies Centre was established in 2004, with its own core teaching staff but also drawing upon colleagues throughout the University. An MSc in African Studies was launched in October 2005.
The University of Oxford has a long-standing commitment to the study of Africa at the postgraduate level. In 2005, Africa was the focus of doctoral research for more than 150 students across the Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences. A wide range of graduate taught courses include options on African topics. There has been, over many years, a lively programme of research seminars, workshops and conferences in a variety of fields, especially at St Antony's College, St Cross College,Queen Elizabeth House, in Politics, and in the Oxford University Centre for the Environment.
In 2004 a University African Studies Centre was established within the new School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies in the Social Sciences Division. The African Studies Centre provides a focus for research and teaching on Africa and coordinates graduate level work on Africa in all parts of the university. The new MSc in African Studies is the Centre's first degree course. In October 2005 24 students were admitted to the programme coming from 10 different countries. In 2006 32 students were admitted and in 2007 there were 42. The 2008-2009 programme enroled 31 students, the 2009-2010 year saw 28 and the 2010-2011 year had 37 students.
The following staff are faculty of the African Studies Centre:
- Professor William Beinart (Rhodes Professor of Race Relations, Director of Graduate Studies, and a Fellow of St Antony's College)
- Professor David Anderson (Professor of African Politics and Fellow of St Cross College)
- Dr David Pratten (University Lecturer of Anthropology and African Studies, Director of the African Studies Centre, and Atiku Abubakar Fellow at St Antony's College)
- Dr Nic Cheeseman (University Lecturer in Politics and African Studies, and Fellow of Jesus College)
- Dr Jonny Steinberg (Departmental Lecturer, African Studies; Research Associate, Centre for Criminology, Research Fellow, St Antony's College)
- Dr Julie Soleil Archambault (Departmental Lecturer in African Anthropology and Fellow of St Anne's College)
In addition to these core teachers, another dozen faculty contribute to the MSc African Studies teaching programme, offering Optional Papers and contributing to supervision. All these faculty are actively involved in teaching and research on Africa in disciplinary departments, in the Centre for the Study of African Economics, and in the African Environments Programme (based within the Oxford University Centre for the Environment). We place a high value on the inter-disciplinary character of much of the work on Africa that is conducted within the University of Oxford, bringing together scholars of diverse backgrounds and training to share common interests.
Students and researchers in African Studies at Oxford benefit from the rich resources of the University's libraries and museums. Rhodes House Library (the Bodleian Library for Commonwealth and African Studies) is an excellent resource with one of the best collections of books on Africa in the UK. It also contains a large manuscript collection. Other valuable departmental and divisional libraries include the Social Science Library, the Balfour Library (Pitt Rivers Museum), the Tylor Library (Anthropology) along with the Geography and Modern History libraries. The Pitt Rivers Museum holds a unique collection of material cultural artefacts from around the world. The African Studies Centre also houses its own book collection in the Terence Ranger Reading Room, this being primarily intended for the use of students on the MSc programme.
As well as running the MSc in African Studies, the Centre organizes a programme of seminars, workshops, international conferences and occasional lectures. Oxford is one of Europe's leading universities for the study of Africa, and draws many distinguished visitors to the university each year, augmenting our permanent Faculty and our large graduate community of Africanists. At least three research seminars on Africa meet each week during Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity Terms. Students on the MSc programme are expected to attend the African Studies seminar each Thursday in term, and they should also attend the Researching Africa Day (which takes place toward the end of Hilary Term), along with other graduate seminars that are relevant to their interests.
The African Studies Centre is located at 13 Bevington Road. Click here for our contact details.
Please address your enquiries concerning the MSc in African Studies to: msc.enquiries@africa.ox.ac.uk.
