Indiana University, Bloomington. African Studies Program

The African Studies Program began in 1961 with a Ford Foundation grant, directed by J. Gus Liebenow of the Department of Political Science, who was succeeded by Patrick O'Meara, director from 1972-93.

Its main areas of emphasis were West African regional studies and history, problems of development, African languages and linguistics, arts and music. Notable collaborative projects on the Bloomington campus included the Focus: Black America Program, creation of an African film library, publication projects with the Folklore Institute, development of the Archives of Traditional Music, and involvement in the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis.

From the description of Indiana University African Studies Program Directors' records, 1957-1995. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 52139778

The formal development of an African Studies Program at Indiana University began in 1961 with the receipt of a five-year developmental grant from the Ford Foundation under the directorship of J. Gus Liebenow of the Department of Political Science. The program was strengthened in 1965 when it was designated as an African Language and Area Center under the National Defense Education Act. In the first ten years of its existence, faculty participants increased from 3 to 23, graduates specializing in African studies from 3 to 95, courses offered during the regular academic year from 4 to 79, graduate enrollments from 26 to 367, and undergraduate enrollments from 17 to 244. A cornerstone of the program was the weekly “continuing seminar,” to which an ever-expanding range of national and international experts in African history and culture was invited for lecture and discussion.

In 1970, when Liebenow as appointed Dean for International Programs and Associate Dean for Research and Advanced Studies, he agreed to continue the directorship of the African Studies Program if he could have the assistance of a deputy director. Patrick O’Meara was appointed to this position, then became director in spring 1972 when Liebenow was appointed Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs. O’Meara continued in this position until his own appointment as Dean for International Programs in June 1993. The records in this collection are from the Liebenow and O’Meara directorships.

Five areas of emphasis characterized the early years of the program: West African regional studies, African humanities with emphasis on the arts and music, problems of development, historical study emphasizing West Africa, and African languages and linguistics. Work in African languages included the preparation of teaching manuals for 14 African languages under contract with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and with the Peace Corps; coursework was offered in other languages as well. A sixth area of emphasis evolved with the extensive work of Alan Taylor in the development of the library collection on Africa and the training of African bibliographers within the Graduate Library School.

The African Studies Program was from the beginning intended to become a permanent program, drawing on faculty with appointments in established departments, encouraging recruitment of new faculty with African interests for departmental openings, and pursuing interdisciplinary efforts with other campus entities such as the Folklore Institute (joint publication of Cross-Rhythms), the Archive of Traditional Music, the International Development Research Center, and the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Its faculty was active nationally and internationally in the development of scholarship on Africa through the support of the African Studies Association, founded in 1956, as well as through individual affiliations and extensive publications. In response to the increasing demands by African-Americans for attention to their African heritage and contributions to American society and the world in 1968, faculty from the African Studies Program were heavily involved in developing and carrying out the extensive Focus: Black America program of speakers, performers, and discussions during the 1968-69 academic year. As Liebenow described the program, it was intended “to educate the university community with respect to the many contributions being made by Black citizens to all phases of American society” and to investigate “the causes and implications of inter-racial conflict in the United States.” His hope was that “Focus: Black America will not only contribute to the launching of the recently approved Program of Afro-American Studies, but will lead also to the hiring of new Black faculty at Indiana and to making the university a more attractive institution for current and prospective Black students” (Dec. 1968 Christmas letter).

Other notable projects of the program’s early years were the annual Hans Wolff Lectures, bringing noted international Africanists to campus for a schedule of lectures and seminars; publications in African humanities; collection of extensive audio and video resources on Africa; the “Living Africa” television production; efforts in support of the Southern African Research Archives Project (SARAP) under the leadership of Gwendolen Margaret Carter, Director of the African Studies Program at Northwestern University and from 1974-1984 a member of the I.U. faculty; and development of the MacArthur Foundation grant that launched the Center for Global Change and World Peace.

From the guide to the Indiana University African Studies Program Directors' records, 1957-1995, (Indiana University Office of University Archives and Records Management http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives)