Research
Empowering faculty and students to lead research that transforms knowledge about Africa and drives innovations that impact the world.
Interdisciplinary Working Groups
The Center for African Studies, with funding from a USED National Resource Center grant and from the UF Office of Research, sponsors a variety of collaborative interdisciplinary working groups. These thematic-oriented groups provide a forum for faculty and graduate students to pursue research and funding initiatives that cut across standard academic units. Group activities have also included symposia, mini-conferences, invited lectures, and fieldwork/methodology workshops.
Sahel Research Group
The Sahel Research Group at the University of Florida is a collaborative effort to understand the political, social, economic and cultural dynamics of the countries of the West African Sahel. The focus of the group is primarily on the six Francophone countries of the region—Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. They are also interested in developments in neighboring countries, to the north and south, whose dynamics frequently intersect with those of the Sahel. The Sahel Research Group brings together faculty and graduate students from various disciplines at the University of Florida, in collaboration with colleagues from the region. Please visit this page for information regarding the Trans-Saharan Elections Project (TSEP).
Serra Lab
Serra Lab promotes research on sustainable development, in Africa as elsewhere, with the aim to contribute to solutions that are economically meaningfully, socially and culturally inclusive, and environmentally sustainable. Research projects within the Lab, while different by themes and regional interests, share the common goal of understanding global dynamics (economic globalization and polarizations, climate change, migration flows, security challenges, etc.) and their effects on societies and well-being. Serra Lab offers a space for undergraduate and graduate students at UF to learn about, and contribute to, research; pursue experiential learning opportunities, such as the University Scholar Program, the Preston-Haskell Scholarship and more; build professional and inter-personal skills; and ultimately boost careers after graduation.
Yorùbá Studies Review
Yorùbá Studies Review is devoted to all aspects of the Yorùbá transnational, national, and regional presence, both in their West Africa’s homeland and in diasporic spaces, past and present. The journal embraces all disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and the basic/applied sciences in as much as the focus is on the Yorùbá affairs and the intersections with other communities and practices worldwide. The journal is open to interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches dealing with a wide range of theoretical and applied topics including, but not limited to: cultural production, identities, religion, arts and aesthetics, history, language, knowledge system, philosophy, gender, media, popular culture, education and pedagogy, politics, business, economic issues, social policy, migration, geography and landscape, environment, health, technology, and sustainability.
Research Reports
The Center for African Studies at the University of Florida publishes an annual compilation of all Faculty, Student and Collaborative Project Reports, in addition to other materials produced through the Center. To view and/or download our research reports from past years, please follow this link.
Research Archive
Since its inception, the Center for African Studies has initiated, supported and encouraged excellence in teaching and research on Africa in all the disciplines at the University of Florida. To review archived research projects, please click here.