Africa is humankind’s original home; a continent of vast cultural and natural resources.

Whether coping with massive urbanisation, developing new kinds of politics, or inventing original literary and theatrical genres, Africans have been active and resilient makers of their own fortunes. The range of African societies today and in the past is enormous: from egalitarian communities to elaborately hierarchical empires. There are extremes of wealth and poverty; ancient oral cultures exist side-by-side with old traditions of literacy and state-of-the-art electronic media. The department’s teaching programmes are grounded in Africans’ own views of the continent and the world.

African Studies at Birmingham is ranked within the Top 5 in the Complete University Guide 2019.