Program of African Studies

In 1948, Melville J. Herskovits "founded the Program of African Studies (PAS) at Northwestern, the first and foremost center of its kind at a major research university in the United States with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Serving as a vital resource and community for Africanist faculty, students and academic professionals, PAS has achieved international prominence for fostering the production of innovative scholarship, the training of hundreds of Africa specialists, and the development of new ways of thinking about the African world...

"Former directors of PAS include: Gwendolen M. Carter (1964-1974); Abraham Demoz, a linguist (1974-1980); John Paden, a political scientist (1980-1986); David William Cohen, a historian and anthropologist (1989-1994); Jane I. Guyer, an anthropologist (1994-2001); Richard Joseph, a political scientist (2002-2008).