African Studies

Overview

About African Studies at Leiden University

Africa is fascinating! In today’s globalised world, the continent plays an increasingly important role in international social and cultural developments. Would you like to explore the many sides of Africa and its impact on the rest of the world, while also learning one of its languages? 

The African Studies BA programme will give you a truly multidisciplinary perspective on the continent.

As a continent, it is a key player in issues such as climate change and global economy, while its art and literature gain increasingly international appreciation. In the African Studies bachelor’s programme you will acquire in-depth knowledge about Africa, from an internal perspective and with a critical eye for the external, often euro-centric approaches of ‘Africa’.

African history from zero to the very recent past takes a central place within the curriculum. This will allow you to gain an understanding of issues such as the role of gender within African society, social inequality and slavery in the past and the present, and the relation between the African diaspora and the Black Lives Matter movement. In our programme, you will have the choice to study Africa as a continent, its individual regions or individual countries. In the second year of the programme, you can tailor the programme according to your personal interests by focusing on one or several of our themes: Sociolinguistics, Literature & Art or History & Anthropology.