{"id":2,"date":"2009-08-12T13:55:42","date_gmt":"2009-08-12T17:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/africanstudies\/ccms\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2025-08-26T10:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:00:32","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/africanstudies\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"title\">Welcome to the Institute of African Studies<\/h3>\n<p class=\"body\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Institute of African Studies builds on Carleton\u2019s long history of expertise on Africa amongst its faculty and graduate students by pulling together the growing number of faculty members and experts in the Ottawa-Gatineau region to provide fresh insight into current and historical dynamics of Africa \u2013 from the slave trade that reshaped the continent and the Atlantic world to the richly textured and innovative religious practices and livelihood strategies, from conflicts, refugees, and peace-building efforts to the production and reception of world-renowned and locally-consumed literatures, music and film.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Carleton is the only Canadian university to have a stand-alone Institute of African Studies which also offers degree programs. At the undergraduate level, it provides a Combined Honours and a 3-year program in African Studies in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, an Honours and a 3-year program in Africa and Globalization in the Bachelor of Global and International Studies (BGInS) degree, and a Minor program in African Studies open to all undergraduate students.\u00a0\u00a0At the graduate level, it offers a Collaborative Masters and Ph.D. in African Studies. It also organizes public events and activities concerning the continent and the African diaspora, and highlights and brings together the ongoing research conducted by its faculty and students.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Institute of African Studies is part of both Carleton\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/\">Faculty of Public Affairs<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/\">Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences<\/a>. FPA and FASS are distinct groups of academic units that deal directly with matters of importance to government and civil society; while tackling the most complex social, cultural and political issues of our time. FASS and FPA offer its students a number of valuable opportunities, listed below.<\/p>\n<h1>FASS<\/h1>\n<p><strong>Co-operative Education<br \/>\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/co-op\/\">Co-operative Education<\/a> combines traditional, in-class education with hands-on experience. Co-op students alternate study terms at Carleton with four, eight, 12 or 16-month work terms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>First-Year Seminars<br \/>\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/first-year-seminars\/\">First-year\u00a0seminar (FYSM) courses<\/a> are small classes (usually with 30 students) designed to give students the opportunity to discuss and research topics of interest in a core subject area. Most university students are in their third or fourth year of study before they have the opportunity to take seminar courses. As a Carleton University Bachelor of Arts (BA) student, you are provided with this experience at the first-year level through enrolment in your First-Year Seminar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards<\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>The <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/coris\/funding-sources\/internal-research-funding\/usra-program\/\">Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)<\/a> are meant to stimulate student interest in research in the natural sciences and engineering. The awards are also meant to encourage students to undertake graduate studies and pursue a research career in these fields.<\/p>\n<h1>FPA and FASS<\/h1>\n<p><strong>International Opportunities and Study Abroad Program<br \/>\n<\/strong>The\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/bgins\/\">Bachelor of Global and International Studies<\/a><\/u>\u00a0(BGInS) is jointly offered by the\u00a0<u><a href=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\">Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences<\/a><\/u>\u00a0and the\u00a0<u><a href=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/\">Faculty of Public Affairs<\/a><\/u>. It is intended for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/students.carleton.ca\">students<\/a> who want to learn more about, and engage constructively with, the <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/myexchange\/\">world<\/a> in which we live.\u00a0 It is expected that it will allow students to pursue a wide range of\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/career\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">career options<\/a><\/u>\u00a0related to global and international studies, including graduate school in a number of different disciplinary areas.<\/p>\n<p>For international opportunities available to students to study, intern, research, volunteer visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/students.carleton.ca\/departments\/global-opportunities-international-student-services-office\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">International Student Services Office<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/myexchange\/\">My Exchange<\/a> websites.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carleton University Research Opportunity (CUROP) (undergraduate)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We sponsor summer undergraduate research internships, which enable students to work on a research project of their choosing in collaboration with a faculty member.<\/p>\n<p>FASS: <a href=\"http:\/\/research.carleton.ca\/our-research\/\">http:\/\/research.carleton.ca\/our-research\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>FPA:<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/carleton-university-research-opportunity-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/carleton-university-research-opportunity-curop-summer\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>IPAF 4900 research mentorship opportunity (undergraduate)<\/p>\n<p>IPAF 4900 is a 0.5 credit course that enables you to learn about research by collaborating with a professor on his or her research project. <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpga\/ipaf-research-experience-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/current-students\/ipaf\/ipaf-opportunities-2\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nDean\u2019s Honour List reception (undergraduate)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every year, we honour its best students at the\u00a0<em>Dean\u2019s Honour List reception<\/em>. The celebration recognizes dedicated, hard-working students who have achieved a GPA of 10.0 or better.<\/p>\n<p>FASS: <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/deans-list-2019-reception-photos\/\">https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/deans-list-2019-reception-photos\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>FPA: <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/current-students\/deans-honour-list\/\">https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/current-students\/deans-honour-list\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>FPA and FASS Ambassadors (undergraduate), The Friendly Face of FPA\/FASS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Made up entirely of volunteers, our Ambassadors represent the Faculty at our events and meet with prospective high school students\u2014while enriching their own experiences at Carleton.<\/p>\n<p>FASS: <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/fass-ambassadors\/\">https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/fass-student-ambassadors\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>FPA: <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/2015\/fpa-ambassadors-the-friendly-face-of-fpa\/\">https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fpa\/2015\/fpa-ambassadors-the-friendly-face-of-fpa\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"body\"><strong>Interdisciplinarity<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-284\" title=\"almina\" src=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/africanstudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/almina.jpg\" alt=\"almina\" width=\"150\" height=\"167\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"body\">Our undergraduate programs are\u00a0built on students taking courses in various disciplines, enabling them to develop a fuller understanding and appreciation of the many dimensions of the continent. Our Collaborative Masters program in African Studies is open to students from 15 different disciplines; it enables graduate students with a wide range of academic backgrounds to come together in the advanced study of Africa.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Practical Experience <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"body\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-281 alignright\" title=\"slaveship\" src=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/africanstudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/slaveship.jpg\" alt=\"slaveship\" width=\"150\" height=\"129\" \/>African studies students are encouraged to acquire \u201chands-on\u201d experience in regards to African studies through taking a placement course, which enables them to carry out work for an organization working on Africa for academic credit, and by going to one of the African <a href=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/isso\/exchange\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">universities with which Carleton has an exchange agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Engaging With Contemporary Issues <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"body\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-189\" title=\"rwanda-2\" src=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/africanstudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/rwanda-2.jpg\" alt=\"rwanda-2\" width=\"150\" height=\"141\" \/>In the different courses, African studies students will be discussing and learning about events and their historical and current contexts that are debated and discussed within Africa and beyond.\u00a0 Students will learn about the effects of slavery on Africa and the question of reparations; African unity and pan-Africanism; authenticity and artistic productions; democratization and human rights; conservation, national parks, and sustainable tourism; justice, reconciliation, and peace-building; music and cultural performances; HIV\/AIDS, malaria and government and donor policies concerning health-care; ethnicity, belonging, and citizenship; African cinema and documentary film studies; and globalization and economic sovereignty, amongst others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to the Institute of African Studies The Institute of African Studies builds on Carleton\u2019s long history of expertise on Africa amongst its faculty and graduate students by pulling together the growing number of faculty members and experts in the Ottawa-Gatineau region to provide fresh insight into current and historical dynamics of Africa \u2013 from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>About - Institute of African Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"About - Institute of African Studies, 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