The Humanities Thrive at African Universities

Building on investments made in African higher education since the 1930s and recognizing the need to support the enrichment of research and learning in the humanities at African universities, Carnegie Corporation is providing a four-year, $5 million grant to the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to work with a variety of African universities and other organizations to develop scholarly capacity in the humanities. The funds are supporting two hundred doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships for researchers and current faculty in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda who, because of their teaching load, have little time to devote to research and publication. In addition, the grant is helping to establish a knowledge network for humanities researchers and faculty, in part by engaging eminent scholars to lead research-design and writing workshops, advise on program progress, and maintain oversight of research quality. To combat the isolation that so often plagues scholars in Africa, the initiative promotes contact and cooperation among scholarly communities in Africa and other parts of the world, and plans are