Collection Development Policy: Africana Studies
  • Subject Librarian(s):
    Holly Snyder
    Dominique Coulombe (Francophone Africa)
    Patricia Figueroa (Lusophone Africa)

  • Departmental Library Representative (DLR):
    Nancy Jacobs

  • Description of the Academic Program | Home Page
    In 2001, Brown University's Afro-American Studies Program became the Africana Studies Department. This change, which created the first Africana Studies department in the Ivy League, reflected the broad focus within the AASP on the African diaspora and the history and culture of people of African descent not only in North America, but in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa -- including Lusophone, Francophone and Arabic-speaking portions of the continent. Upon its promotion to departmental status in Academic Year 2001-2002, the Africana Studies curriculum was further expanded to include courses on the African continent and people of African descent throughout the world.

    The Africana Studies Department at Brown has been distinctive for its focus on three areas: theory, history and the arts of the African diaspora. The department's course offerings and other academic activities are supplemented by extra-curricular activities which emphasize the global reach and implications of Africana, and the Department is a meeting place for interdisciplinary interests. The research and teaching tasks of the faculty are concerned in the broadest sense with the Africana experience. All faculty members have research and teaching specialties related to the impact of slavery, colonialism, and racialism on the modern world.

    Some important ongoing initiatives at Brown that involve research on and in Africa, in addition to the teaching and research of the Africana Studies Department, include:

    • AFRICAN DEMOGRAPHY. Through the Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University faculty members and students are conducting 27 research projects across the continent involving the study of economic, health, and public infrastructure. In addition, PTSC collaborates with the University of Colorado at Boulder and two African partners (the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and the African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya) to promote scholarly exchange in the field of African demography.

    • THE WATSON INSTITUTE. The Watson Institute sponsors the Africa Group Colloquium, which comprises a network of Brown faculty, students and others in the Providence area. The group meets regularly for the purpose of engaging discussion "about the issues confronting the countries of the African continent and methods employed to analyze these issues," and to provide younger scholars with the opportunity to present their doctoral research. The Watson Institute also encourages study of Africa through its programs in Politics, Culture and Identity and Political Economy and Development.

    • SLAVERY & JUSTICE. The work of the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice has drawn attention to the University�s historical involvement with slavery and the slave trade, and President Simmons has indicated her commitment to ongoing discussion of how the university can make reparations for its role in these historical injustices. This will likely require access to new and important resources for the study of the African side of the slave trade, as well as the African diaspora and contemporary Africa.

    • BROWN MEDICAL SCHOOL. The Brown Medical School offers medical students a number of ways to work in Africa or on issues facing Africa. The Medical School and its Program in Public Health operate an active program in HIV/AIDS research, called the Brown University Aids Program (BRUNAP), which includes medical research on HIV/AIDS in and for Africa. A related public health center initiative is the International Health Institute, which promotes and coordinates activities by interested physicians and medical students in international efforts to promote public health and provides important contacts to health organizations working in Africa. The Department of Surgery offers a two-month surgical elective at a mission hospital in Kenya. One recent public health initiative, recruited by Prof. Nancy Jacobs in the Department of History, was the collaborative project between the Brown Medical School, the University of Cape Town and Peninsula Technikon in South Africa, to study the effects of Asbestos on South African miners.

    • CENTER FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES.Arabic has been offered at Brown since 1995, and is one of the fastest growing areas of language study on campus. The Center for Language Studies currently offers six semesters of study in Arabic at four levels of instruction, taught by permanent faculty and Fullbright FLTA fellows. In Academic Year '05-'06, the Center for Language Studies offered a two semester program in elementary Kiswahili for the first time, taught by a Fullbright FTLA fellow from Kenya. Although it can only be offered on a non-credit basis, because it is being taught by fellows rather than by a faculty member, the program has been very popular with students and was over-enrolled in Academic Year '05-'06. Due to student demand, Kiswahili is being offered again in Academic Year '06-'07, taught by a new Fullbright FTLA fellow from Tanzania. The Center for Language Studies intends to recruit additional Fullbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants in the future for the purpose of continuing the teaching of Kiswahili on campus.

    • PLAN FOR ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT. Through its emphasis on multi-disciplinary initiatives and practicing diversity, Brown's Plan for Academic Enrichment has important implications for promoting the study of Africa and African issues on campus in the Humanities and Social Sciences. In the Department of Anthropology, designated for expansion under the PAE, there are now six permanent faculty members with research interests involving Africa. Africanists can also be found throughout the faculty in the Humanities and Social Sciences, including in the Departments of History, English, French Studies, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Comparative Literature and the Haffenreffer Museum.



  • Overview of the Collection
    As demonstrated by the breadth of the programs outlined above, the Library�s holdings on Africa serve a wide variety of users across a number of disciplines, and are used for undergraduate and graduate study, as well as for faculty research. It primarily supports academic programs in the Departments of Africana Studies, History and Anthropology, but contributes to scholarship in English, French Studies, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Demography and Comparative Literature.

    The Library's collection in African Studies, as such, currently comprises approximately 18,000 titles. These materials are primarily housed in the John D. Rockefeller Library, and most can be readily accessed through JOSIAH. A list of pertinent e-journals in African Studies, with links to the journals themselves, is provided on the e-journal page of the Library�s Resource Guide for Africana/Africa

    Works pertaining to African Studies are typically found in the following call number ranges:

    CategoryLC ClassesTitles (as of Oct 2006)
    African HistoryDT12,054
    AnthropologyGN, GR11,652
    DemographyHB 848 - HB 36974,972
    Political Institutions & Public AdministrationJQ2,462
    Colonies & ColonizationJV2,087
    Languages & Literature of AfricaPL 8000 - PL 8844780
    African Literature in EnglishPR 9340 - PR 96801,968
    African Literature in FrenchPQ 3800 - PQ 3999799
    African Literature in Iberian LanguagesPQ 8561 - PQ 8929, PQ 9700 13
    African Literature in AfrikaansPT 6500 - PT 6593 39
    National Bibliography: AfricaZ3501 - Z3975 312


    However, works pertaining to African Studies can be found interfiled throughout all LC classifications, especially those pertaining to religion (B), history and its auxiliary sciences, including archeology (LC Classes C and D), geography (G), the social sciences (H), music (M), art (N), literature (P), and science (Q).

    The collection consists of circulating materials, serials and full-text electronic databases, as well as rare books, manuscripts and microform sets which are available for use in the library. It should be noted that interest of African history and literature is very new to Brown and the Library's collections suffer from the long-term lack of development in this area. Nevertheless, although in general the collections on Africa are not particularly strong, the Library does have some significant materials for African Studies in its special collections at the John Hay Library. In particular, the Hay Library maintains several collections that document important aspects of British imperialism in Africa during the 19th century; these complement the holdings of the John Carter Brown Library. Among them are the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, the Carveley Collection on T.E. Lawrence, and a number of collections documenting British literary figures connected with Africa (such as John Buchan), as well as selected manuscript collections. For further information on these, please refer to the Special Collections section of this collections policy statement and Collections A to Z on the Library's homepage.



  • Specific Collecting Guidelines
    Language: Primary and secondary texts in the English language form the bulk of the collection. Many new text items are purchased in French and Portuguese, and support instruction and research in those languages. Primary texts in other languages (e.g., Arabic, Dutch, German, Afrikaans, Swahili) are acquired selectively. Purchase of materials on Africa in Arabic and Swahili may need to be expanded, given the recent demand on campus for instruction in those languages. In that regard, the Library will work closely with the Center for Language Studies and the Language Resource Center toward the purchase of appropriate materials. It should also be noted that African films are purchased without regard to language, and accordingly the Library's film collection represents a wide array of indigenous African languages, as well as European colonial languages.

    Chronological Span: All periods of African history are represented, although the focus of the collection is on post-World War II independence movements and post-colonial thought. General histories of Africa and its colonization by European powers are also acquired. Afro-American history and culture are covered by the Library's Collection Development Policy for Africana/Afro-Americana. Materials related to the African slave trade are also covered by the Library's Collection Development Policies for North American history, British history, French Studies, and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies.

    Imprint Date: Circulating monographs of recent imprint (e.g., 1800 to present) form the core of the collection, however imprints from earlier dates along with materials such as serials, non-circulating monographs, and audiovisual and electronic resources are also collected.

    Geographical Range: The primary focus for collection building is on sub-Saharan Africa, for which the Library's collections are weak; the Arab nations of North Africa are also covered, in part, by the Middle East subject specialist.

    Types of Material Included:

    • Microform holdings: The collection includes not only journals and monographs, but resources in microform. Among the most significant of these are the Church Missionary Society Archive, which covers Anglican missions in portions of Africa in the British sphere of influence (Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa) between 1803 and 1934, the Records of the American Committee on Africa (1952-1985), government documents of various types (including UN, CIA and State Department reports) for the post- World War II period, and a run of the Nairobi Standard covering 1970 through 2002.

    • Electronic resources: There are few electronic resources available at the present time that focus specifically on Africa. However, the Library does have a number of general electronic resources that have significant materials for the study of Modern Africa. Among these are the digital versions of Early English Books (EEBO), the English Short Title Catalog (ESTC), the Times Digital Archive (covering 1795 to present), and Early American Imprints, all of which include English language tracts pertaining to slavery, the slave trade, the diaspora of captive Africans throughout the British empire, exploration of Africa and the settlement of Liberia and Sierra Leone as settlements of former slaves. Materials in electronic formats such as CD-ROM, DVD, DVD-ROM and online access are generally acquired according to their licensing agreements and their compatibility with the library's system. These records are supplemented, for an earlier period, by microform holdings (Early English Books, Early English Newspapers, British Parliamentary Papers, Early American Imprints, Series I and II, Early American Newspapers), which contain much material of interest for the study of Africa, the slave trade, and post-slave trade colonization of Africa. Further information on electronic resources useful for the study of Modern Africa can be found on the Library Resource Guide for Africana/Africa.

    • Film: The Library is actively working to build a collection of films by African filmmakers on African topics. This effort targets films by topic without regard to language, although films in indigenous African languages other than Swahili are bought in subtitled form. The Library acquires materials in all video formats, with the exception of 8mm. Video materials are purchased primarily in DVD format, although VHS may be purchased where DVD is not available. All English-language films purchased for this collection are housed at Media Services in the Sciences Library. Materials in languages other than English may be found at the Language Resource Center.

    • Music: The Library's holdings in African music comprise a significant component of the African Studies collection. The Music Librarian purchases CDs in contemporary African music. In addition, ethnological recordings of African music are acquired to complement the field recordings in the James Koetting Archive and other ethnomusicology materials held by the Orwig Music Library.


    Types of Materials Excluded: Introductory general-purpose textbooks whose primary function is instruction are outside the scope of this collection.

  • Special Collections
    The holdings of the John Hay Library include the following collections which contain materials pertaining to modern Africa:

    The ANNE S. K. BROWN MILITARY COLLECTION is the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering, and is one of the world's largest collections devoted to the study of military and naval uniforms. The collection comprises approximately 12,000 printed books, 18,000 albums, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and portfolios (containing thousands of prints and drawings), and over 13,000 individual prints, drawings and water-colors as well as a collection of 5,000 miniature lead soldiers. The collection includes a number of important works pertaining to the European military affairs in Africa.

    STARRED BOOKS. The Library�s general collections of rare books hold a fair number of items pertaining to Africa; key among these are general narratives of travel and exploration, but the collection also includes numerous tracts pertaining to the work of the American Colonization Society, as well as British and American abolitionist tracts.

    METCALF PAMPHLET COLLECTION. A comprehensive collection of 19th century Anglo-American pamphlet literature, the Metcalf collection includes many items pertaining to the exploration and colonization of Africa.

    HISTORY OF SCIENCE COLLECTION. The Hay Library's general History of Science Collection encompasses books and manuscripts documenting African flora and fauna, as well as scientific observations made on the continent and publications of African scientific institutions. Particular strengths are astronomy publications from South Africa, as well as some key works on African botany and zoology.

    HARRIS COLLECTION OF AMERICAN POETRY AND PLAYS. Although concentrating on North America, the Harris collection includes some important literary reactions to African slavery, the slave trade, writings by Africans in North America and reactions to American and European colonization and domination of Africa.

    ST. MARTIN'S PRESS ARCHIVE. Including archival copies of books produced by St. Martin's Press and its subsidiary imprints, among them Tor and Picador presses, the St. Martin's press archive incorporates a number of interesting recent (post World War II) works on Africa, including both fiction and popular literature.

  • Related Collections
    Haffenreffer Museum. Now part of Brown University, the Haffenreffer was founded as the King Philip Museum in the early 20th century on the Mount Hope Grant in Bristol (Rhode Island) � a key site associated with Metacom, or King Philip, a 17th-century Wampanoag sachem. Originating with the private collection of its founder, Rudolf F. Haffenreffer (for whom it is now named), the Museum has been a valuable cultural resource for its New England audience, as well as the scholars of anthropology, archaeology, art, and history. The Haffenreffer Museum's holdings, which represent human cultures worldwide, include 6,000 ethnographic objects and nearly 70,000 archeological objects from North America. The Museum's holdings of ethnographic objects from Africa are extensive, constituting 3,000 items in all. These, along with a smaller collection of archeological objects from Africa, represent a significant component of its collections, as seen in the recent exhibition Believing Africa.

    The John Carter Brown Library. Administered independently from the Brown University Library as an advanced center for research in history and the humanities, the JCBL collections document every aspect of the Americas up to 1830, including voyages of discovery, natural history, colonization and the African slave trade. The JCB�s collections of original maps and prints is known throughout the scholarly world. The JCB�s holdings also include the early records the Brown family and their business enterprises as well as other manuscript materials on the history of early Rhode Island.

    The Virginia Baldwin Orwig Music Library. The Orwig Music Library contains a large and comprehensive collection of music in all formats. Orwig�s holdings include recordings of African music from all parts of the continent. A principle component of the music collections at Orwig is the James Koetting Archive in ethnomusicology, which includes Koetting's original field recordings from Ghana in the 1970s.

    The RISD Museum. Although its permanent collections are not notable for holdings in African art, from time to time the RISD Museum does mount exhibitions of interest for the study of modern Africa. Most recent among these was the 2001 exhibition African Affinities, a display of work by four photographers documenting the African diaspora, and Export/Import, mounted in 2005 and featuring important work by British/Nigerian sculptor Yinka Shonibare.