Faculty Research: African Studies Initiative

The African Studies Initiative aims to become the central hub at The New School to produce knowledge about Africa and its diaspora. While originating in the Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA), this initiative is committed to being university-wide and inclusive of faculty and students from various programs and departments across The New School. The initiative builds upon the university’s 1950s legacy when lecturers seconded from Howard University offered the first course on African Studies. The next few decades saw faculty hires like Aristide Zolberg, Courtney Jung, Ron Kassimir, and Janet Roitman scattered throughout the university. In November 2012, a pivotal conference on “Rethinking Africa” was organized by Sean Jacobs, Manjari Mahajan, and Antina von Schnitzler. Finally, TNS has run summer institutes (TCDS in Cape Town and Johannesburg) and international field programs (GPIA’s programs in Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Kampala, and Cape Town) on the African continent.

In November 2023, a group of faculty were joined by students from GPIA, NSSR, Lang, Milano, and Parsons to discuss the imperative for a structured intellectual platform dedicated to African Studies at The New School. Our immediate goals included fostering community and establishing an ongoing monthly African Studies seminar featuring up to three speakers per semester to enhance research and conversations on Africa within The New School. The monthly seminar serves as a dynamic platform where academics delve into the nuanced study of Africa. Faculty members and visiting scholars from The New School and neighboring institutions actively participate in a recurring series of engaging sessions, fostering vibrant scholarly discourse. The seminar series commenced in March 2024 with a presentation by Zachary Fleishman, a PhD student from the University of Cambridge, delving into the ‘history of the night’ in South Africa. Scholars of Africa from Columbia University and New York University attended this meeting and are eager to collaborate with the Initiative.

Affiliated Faculty:

Sean Jacobs, Professor of International Affairs; Director, Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs
Antina Von Schnitzler, Associate Professor, Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs
Manjari Mahajan, Associate Professor, Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs
Emma Park, Assistant Professor of History, New School for Social Research
Cresa Pugh, Assistant Professor of Sociology, New School for Social Research
Anna Reumert, Postdoctoral Fellow, Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility