At the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, we have, for more than five decades, kept on creatively and critically exploring the African and Black experience in all its richness and diversity across a range of disciplines. Join us as we continually spawn fresh areas of scholarship in response to flows, shifts and transformations on the African continent and in its diaspora.

Staff Seminar Series

Live Stream: 24th of April 2019, 11.00 a.m

Dr Senayon Olaoluwa to deliver 4th IAS Staff Seminar Lecture

‘The Monotony of Natural Agency: Human Evolution as Diaspora Discourse’: Dr Olaoluwa will take us to the very beginning in his understanding of the concept of diaspora as a primary condition for the existence of the world and all that is within it.

The link to the livestream channel will be shared on our website on the day.

Live Stream

African Studies at Ibadan

IAS-UI offers postgraduate programmes leading to the award of the MA, MPhil and PhD degrees in core African Studies. Our programmes are designed for those working towards gaining better insights into theoretical and practical methods in African Studies.

 

Learn More about our Programmes

About IAS

The raison d’ȇtre for any Institute of African Studies in Africa today is the sense of purpose that comes with self-knowledge. It is our mandate at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, to build a body of knowledge and to construct an attitude of intellection that will not take for granted the heritage of African peoples, their experiences in the present, and their aspirations for the future.

 

Learn More about IAS

Students

At IAS-UI, our students pursue postgraduate courses in various disciplines. The students of our Institute run the African Studies Students’ Association (ASSA). ASSA is a vibrant body whose activities bring students together to promote their interests as budding scholars, cultural ambassadors, and responsible members of society.

 

Studying at IAS

Staff

Headed by a Director of professorial rank, we have a complement of full-time research fellows in the disciplines of African History, African Law, African Music, African Visual Arts, Anthropology, Cultural and Media Studies, Diaspora and Transnational Studies, Gender Studies, Traditional African Medicine and Belief Systems, and Transformation Studies in Africa.

Discover our Staff

Research

IAS staff constantly undertake field and archival research in their areas of specialization and in collaboration with scholars in cognate disciplines. Fieldwork is a key principle of research in IAS, and our students take compulsory courses in field methods. Some of the titles of concluded and ongoing research works carried out by IAS staff can be viewed here:

Discover our latest Research Programmes

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Programme and Centers

We offer academic courses at the postgraduate level in the core disciplines of African Studies, constantly reshaping our curricula to keep abreast of developments in scholarship and society alike.
Apart from these programmes of study, IAS-UI has a complement of centres which focus on specific areas of documentation and research on African and Black issues. 

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Publications

The Institute flagship journal, African Notes, is an outlet for original studies of different aspects of culture and society in Africa. Each edition of African Notes offers articles on wide-ranging topics, but sometimes themed editions are produced as special issues of the journal.

IAS’s Publications Office oversees the production of African Notes, and is as well responsible for the other publications of the Institute, including our collection of long-playing records. Quite a number of these materials are available for purchase at our Publications Office. 

Read More

A selection of works published by our Institute over the years can be viewed here.

IAS staff publish often within, but also beyond, the provinces of their disciplinary specialisms, given that some of our research problems and themes require interdisciplinary approaches. 

Here is a selection from our staff publishing output.

Studio

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Archive of Sound and Visio:  an extremely valuable organ of media resource and cultural pedagogy at our Institute.

Museum

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A collection of more than a thousand ethnographic materials and traditional arts objects from Nigeria and other African countries.

Art Shop

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Artworks, souvenirs and gifts items, contemporary and traditional Yoruba and Benin artworks (woodcarvings, brass casts,...)

Eminent Scholars/Distinguished Fellows, Alumni & Alumnae/Artists-in-residence

Some of the most renowned names in Nigeria’s public life have had occasion to do business with us at IAS-UI. We also have a fellowship programme through which we play host to eminent scholars, some of whom may have retired from their professional careers but are still active in doing research. Owing to our vigorous interest in both the plastic and performance arts, IAS-UI has had in residence a number of heavyweights from Nigeria’s artistic scene.