Master of Arts in African Studies

Ghent University’s Master in African Studies is the only Master’s programme of its kind in Belgium, and has a unique academic focus on the African continent. The programme starts from a truly interdisciplinary perspective as its course units take an in-depth perspective on Africa’s peoples, cultures, literatures and languages, with an emphasis on Central and Eastern Africa.

Master's Programme
1 year 60 credits
Faculty of Arts and Philosophy
English
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About the programme
Programme summary
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Off to a good start
After graduation

What

Ghent University’s Master in African Studies is the only Master’s programme of its kind in Belgium, and it has a unique academic focus on the African continent. The programme starts from a truly interdisciplinary perspective as its course units take on an in-depth perspective on Africa’s peoples, cultures, literatures and languages, with an emphasis on Central and Eastern Africa. It combines broad thematic course units and specialised seminars, training students in disciplines as diverse as anthropology, history, literature studies and linguistics. This unique multidisciplinary programme will stimulate your critical thinking about Africa’s position in the world with a true sense of appreciation for cultural diversity.

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For whom

The admission requirements vary. Depending on your prior education, you are either able to enrol directly, or there are additional requirements.

Structure

The Master in African Studies consists of three main course units at five ECTS each, four course units at five ECTS each selected from a list of specialist Africanist course units, ten ECTS worth of elective course units to be chosen freely from the university’s course catalogue, and a Master’s thesis at fifteen ECTS.

Main Course Units
The Master in African Studies focuses specifically on Central and Eastern Africa. This area is studied from different academic subdisciplines in the three main mandatory course units: ‘Language, History and Identity in Central and Eastern Africa’, ‘Literature, Media and the Arts in Central and Eastern Africa’, and ‘Conflict and Society in Central and Eastern Africa’.

Elective Course Units
Students enjoy a great degree of freedom to shape their own curriculum by choosing course units from various subdisciplines, based on their individual research interests. They choose four course units from the following list: ‘Anthropology of Affect and Materiality', ‘Poverty, Development and Inequality in Modern African History’, ‘History and Theory of African Urbanism and Architecture’, ‘Bantu Corpus Linguistics and Lexicography’, ‘Comparative Bantu Grammar’, ‘Gender and Identity in African Literatures’, ‘Postcolonial Literature in English’, 'African Archaeology'. In addition, students choose an additional ten ECTS worth of course units either from the Africanist course units listed above, or from the university’s wider course catalogue, including courses on Swahili and Lingála, the two most important languages of central and eastern Africa.

Master's Dissertation
The Master's programme culminates in a Master’s Dissertation. This is a research paper based on independent, empirical research, and preferably (but not necessarily) the result of fieldwork in Africa. By writing a Master’s dissertation, students testify to their ability to conduct independent research, their mastery of a methodological framework and to their thorough knowledge of a specific Africanist topic.

If you want to combine your Master’s degree with a Teacher’s degree, then there is the option of taking a Master's Programme in Teaching (in Dutch: 'Educatieve master') instead of the above described master. The Master's Programme in Teaching, however, is a Dutch-taught programme. More information can be found on www.ugent.be/educatievemaster.

Labour Market

In a globalising world, in which Africa plays an increasingly important role, our society needs graduates with academic expertise on Africa. A thorough understanding of African cultural frameworks, languages and history provides students with the knowledge and skills to build bridges between cultures. Graduates in African Studies find jobs in the NGO sector or cultural sector, in the North-South sector, in academic research, immigrant support programmes and diversity sector, education and the tourist industry, governmental institutions or business world, both in Europe and in Africa.

Some government jobs require our graduates' specific knowledge of African cultural diversity. For example, some alumni work as North-South officials, integration officers or Swahili teachers. In turn, other graduates found employment with international organisations such as UNESCO and other UN institutions.

Our alumni are especially sought after by international companies. This is not surprising. Several African countries are on a strong economic rise. As a result, more Western companies are investing in the South.

Sometimes alumni dive into research within a specific subfield of African languages and cultures. This is often doctoral research in which you are attached to and supervised by a university or research institute at home or abroad. Several alumni are also working at the Africa Museum's research centre in Tervuren.