MA programme in African and Diaspora Studies

Objectives of African & Diaspora Studies M.A Program

In response to the global, regional and local needs for specialists in African and African Diaspora studies, the Faculty of Arts in collaboration with other cognate Faculties in the University and the University of the West Indies have developed a joint academic Master of Arts/Master of Science programme in African & Diaspora Studies. This programme is designed to promote local and international awareness of African realities in an interdisciplinary matrix, including the humanities, social sciences and some cognate professional fields. The resource persons consist of seasoned academics in the various aspects of African studies as well as academics interested in global Africa’s indigenous knowledge systems and their relevance to contemporary existence.

The objective of the African & Diaspora Studies M.A/MSc Programme is to provide an opportunity and platform for graduate students to engage in intensive study and research on Africa, its history, science, technologies, philosophy, culture and experiences on an interdisciplinary basis. The programme is designed to promote local and international awareness of African realities in an interdisciplinary matrix including the humanities, social sciences, and some cognate professional fields. The programme is a platform for advancing training of Africa and African Diaspora specialists committed to both academic excellence and social responsibility in the Black pluriversalist world and the broader global community.

Rationale and Justification for African & Diaspora Studies M.A

Africa is often a neglected or marginalized part of the world whose studies have not gained much deserved attention. The need to tell African stories, realities and challenges from within with an expertise’s insights, rather than from the perspective of paternalistic external ‘experts’, necessitates studying at an advanced level, the different dimensions of the African world. In consolidating the leading positions of the University of Lagos and University of the West Indies in University education in Nigeria, the sub-Saharan African region, the West Indies and globally, the M.A/MSc programme in African & Diaspora Studies would offer foreign, African and West Indies students deeper understanding and wider horizons of their knowledge of the African continent. More fundamentally, a Masters’ programme in African & Diaspora Studies would enhance the two Universities attraction to foreign students, who have special interests in Africa and its peoples. Only very few universities in Africa and globally offer any form of graduate programme in African & Diaspora Studies.