Interest in the study of Africa — both on campus and through study abroad — has grown significantly in recent years, demonstrated by the University's increased funding of the African Studies program and the growth of faculty and student involvement in the area.
By founding the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, which provides added resources to the African Studies Program, the University demonstrated administrative interest through funding, program director Emmanuel Kreike said.
The additional monetary support follows the steady increase in the number of faculty members in the African Studies program, which has grown from 12 in 1997 to 22 this year, Kreike said.
The growth did not necessarily result from a centrally planned effort, Kreike added.
"Individual departments on their own added African specialists," he said. "I don't think there was an overall plan."
However, the administration is determined to build on this growth, he added.
"Now of course, the administration is very keen . . . to expand and use these faculty," he said.
The University's recruiting of high-profile Africanists including K. Anthony Appiah, who left Harvard to join the University faculty last year "makes a strong statement" about its commitment to African Studies, he added.
Student interest
But it is not just on the level of the faculty that interest in studying Africa is growing, Kreike said. He said there has been a significant increase in the way University students are considering Africa in recent years.
"Their interest in Africa was growing rapidly, quicker than we could meet the demand until now," Kreike said.
Enrollment in the largest Africa-related classes, in the politics and history departments, has increased by more than 50 percent in the last two to three years, Kreike said. Twenty-three seniors are enrolled in the African Studies certificate program, up from 13 last year.
Kreike attributed this increase in interest to several factors, including an increase in related course offerings. The University last year hired a lecturer in Swahili partly resulting from a student initiative, he said.
The increase in interest in Africa and African Studies "might also be a reflection of changing demographics within our student body," Kreike said. The recent changes in the University's financial aid policy and an increased emphasis on recruiting a diverse student body have already had some impact, he added.
In fact, professors and students interested in African issues on and off campus have found their own niche here. Some meet weekly in an "indaba," which means "gathering" in Ndebele, to discuss their interests and concerns.
The meetings, organized by the African Studies program, are held early Wednesday mornings and typically attract 10 to 15 students and a similar number of faculty members, Kreike said.
The gatherings provide a way to "really keep your finger on the pulse of what's happening" in relation to Africa on and off campus, he added.
AKWAABA
Student initiatives independent of faculty guidance are also sprouting up.
The African Studies program works closely with the student group AKWAABA and that group has helped to build student interest in the program, Kreike said. AKWAABA, a group of students interested in current affairs in Africa and the African Diaspora, was originally founded by African students in 1995 but was inactive for several years before it was re-founded last spring, said Amaka Megwalu '06, the group's president.
Megwalu, who is originally from Nigeria, said the group has held dinner discussions, workshops and study breaks in addition to inviting speakers to campus.
AKWAABA has also made efforts to encourage more African students to apply to the University, Megwalu said. The group put information on its website and also gave information packets to Princeton in Africa fellows to distribute to African students, she said. Some members of AKWAABA have held information sessions about the University in their home countries in Africa.
Megwalu also said members of AKWAABA's board plan to meet with admission deans to discuss possible efforts to increase the applicant pool from Africa.
PiAf
And then, there are those who are not content to simply read about Africa and opt instead to explore it up close themselves. For these students, there is PiAf.
PiAf's mission "is to create a group of leaders committed to the emergence of Africa and of the developing world," said Frank Strasburger '67, president of the organization's board and a co-founder.
The program, which places graduating seniors and young alumni in service-oriented fellowships throughout the African continent, has grown significantly since its founding in 2000.
According to Kreike, PiAf has helped lead to the apparent increase in student interest in Africa.
"Since 2000, the interest on campus has grown significantly," said Erin Ferenchick '00, the program's executive director and one of its first fellows. "That's paralleled the interest in African Studies in general."
PiAf placed eight fellows in 12- to 18-month fellowships in its inaugural year in 2000, Ferenchick said.
This year, PiAf placed 19 fellows with nonprofit organizations in Africa, up from 13 last year, she said.
Most of the fellows are paid by host organizations, but PiAf provides partial or full funding for some fellows.
The University administration has expressed rising interest and support for PiAf, Strasburger said.
Partner organizations include the International Rescue Committee, the University of Cape Town's Quantitative Literacy Program and Friends of Tanzanian Schools.
Many other organizations have expressed interest in partnering with the program, but PiAf's board wants to "be careful not to grow too fast," Strasburger said.
PiAf may open some opportunities to non-Princetonians in the future, he added.
"One of the things we're going to look at is expanding opportunities beyond the University," Strasburger said.
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