African studies in the United States were still in their infancy in 1958 when the National Defense Education Act was passed. One instructional program -- at Hartford Seminary -- had a long history. And numbers of anthropologists were notably active in field research on African topics by that date. But as compared with the venerable tradition of oriental studies, or even with pre-World War II area instruction and research on Latin America, the African field was only just opening up as a subject of concerted academic attention.

At the same time, it was clear that the postwar burgeoning of area studies programs had as much relevance to Africa as to Russia or India, and a few programs -- notably those at Northwestern and Boston -- had by this time displayed a serious intention of developing offerings of a scope comparable to those of the older fields. Indeed, the area approach had special pertinence for African studies, for with the exception of anthropology virtually none of the conventional departments inmost institutions included African specialists. The area approach was not an alternative to disciplinary modes of university organization, but rather a means of both focusing and reinforcing disciplinary competence with reference to a particular world region. The device helped to strengthen departments by reminding them of neglected fields and opportunities, and its corollary of multi-disciplinary emphasis helped to enable the social sciences and humanities to address themselves more effectively to the many contemporary scholarly problems lying on the periphery of individual disciplines. Thus, if East Asian or East European subjects of instruction and research could gain by the use of the area approach, the still more neglected African field was the more in need of such fortification. Moreover, African studies could, in the usual fashion of relative latecomers, avoid some of the pitfalls of the earliest area programs, e.g., needless tension between disciplinary and area interest or loyalty.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with its headquarters at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was established in 1958 under resolution 67aA (XXV) of the Economic and Social Council.

It is one of the four regional commissions of the United Nations, the other three, which were established much earlier, being the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) with headquarters in Geneva, the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) with Bangkok, Thailand, as its headquarters and the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) at Santiago de Chili.

The establishment of these regional commissions was a result of the need and desirability to decentralize United Nations activities, not only on a functional but also on a geographical basis.

The second meeting of the Canadian Committee on African Studies was held in conjunction with the annual assembly of the Canadian Political Science Association and the Learned Societies at l'Université Laval, Quebec City, during June 1963. There were two programs of research papers -- the first in Canada devoted wholly to Africa -- and a business session. Professor Ronald Cohen of McGill University, who is leaving Canada, resigned as chairman and was replaced by Professor Donald Wiedner (Alberta). Professor Clare Hopen (New Brunswick) was appointed chairman of the program committee for the third meeting of the Committee, which will be held at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in June 1964.

A special committee with broad powers was appointed to investigate the problems and possibilities of establishing an African Research and Study Centre for Canada. A major part of its responsibility will be to recommend a specific location and to negotiate for support by as many universities and institutions as possible within the country. The special committee, composed of Professors Edgar Efrat (British Columbia), Albert Trouwborst (Montreal), Wiedner (Alberta - chairman), and D. M. Young (New Brunswick), envisions encouragement of undergraduate interest in Africa in all universities which will focus upon a coordinated, advanced program in the proposed Centre.

Ever since the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU, 1956, Soviet interest in the countries of Africa has steadily increased. This interest has manifested itself in a growing number of books and articles published in the Soviet Union dealing with the peoples and problems of the “Dark Continent.” A prolific contributor to this body of literature has been the noted Soviet Africanist I.I. Potekhin, whose works first appeared in 1932 and continued until his death in 1964. Potekhin survived and continued to publish during the repressive Stalinist years of the thirties, post-World War II Stalin-Zhdanov period of foreign policy, the years of transition, and the period of reassessment and innovation in Third World policy under Khrushchov. This general review of the life and works of I. I. Potekhin is intended to provide information and insights which may prove of value to students of Soviet policy toward the countries of Africa.

Born in 1903 to peasant parents, Ivan Izasimovich Potekhin worked in a Siberian factory at the age of fourteen. From 1921 to 1929 he attended a provincial school and was extremely active in local party activities, becoming a Communist Party member in 1922 at the age of nineteen.

In 1930, following the 1928 Comintern decision to opt for an “independent native republic” in South Africa, Potekhin was sent to study in the African studies program of the University of Leningrad. This opportunity was probably a result of Potekhin's Siberian successes as a party worker, and the party's need for active members with some knowledge of Africa. Potekhin's main area of interest, as reflected in the majority of his works published between 1932 and 1935, was, not unexpectedly, South Africa, more specifically, the problems of class structure and of agriculture. He contributed sixteen pieces to various publications during this period. Six of these were in English and appeared in the Negro Worker (Hamburg). Interestingly enough, he frequently used the pseudonym John Izotla and on one occasion, H. Jordon. Potekhin spent the next several years preparing his doctoral dissertation, submitted in 1939, on the agrarian relations of the eastern Bantu.

There is an extensive documentary reflection in the United States, as yet only partially known, of American diplomatic, military, commercial, explorative, missionary, philanthropic, educational, scientific and other activities in, and contacts with, Africa over the past three and a half centuries. This vast accumulation, distributed throughout the country, has considerable research potential not only for historians of Africa and of American relations with Africa, but also for Africanists working in various social scientific disciplines.

In order to bring to light and to acquaint interested American and foreign scholars with the entire broad range of Africa-related archival and manuscript materials extant in this country, the African Studies Association sought foundation support for a comprehensive descriptive guide to these materials. The Ford Foundation has awarded a grant of $54,000 to the Association for the production of the guide over a three-year period.

The Archives-Libraries Committee of the Association, under the chairmanship of Dr. William A. Hance, has arranged with the Archivist of the United States for the National Archives and Records Service to assume joint responsibility with ASA for the conduct of the guide project. Morris Rieger, a senior member of the NARS staff, and as ASA Fellow, will serve as project director. The project, which began on February 1, 1964, has been placed under the immediate jurisdiction of the National Historical Publications Commission, a body, linked to NARS, of which the Archivist is Chairman. This link will give the project the valuable advantage of NHPC's close ties with archival and manuscript depositories throughout the country.

During the spring of 1962, the Africa Liaison Committee of the American Council on Education authorized me to secure information on the status of African studies and training in Germany. Toward this end, I visited on two occasions in the late summer and early fall of 1962 a number of German organizations, institutes, and universities. My work in Germany was facilitated by the cooperation of the German Foreign Office, which arranged for my itinerary while in the Bonn area, and by the encouragement of President Heinrich Luebke of the German Federal Republic. In this brief report, I list and describe the work of the most important agencies and organizations which were engaged in 1962 in research on Africa, particularly south of the Sahara, and in the training of Africans. Special consideration will be given to some of the developments and problems in the universities.

In preparation for the enclosed report, each Fellow of the African Studies Association was sent a copy of the guidelines with a request for his or her suggestions. Over 50 individual replies representing major fields of the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences were received, along with a number of responses from librarians, and from Africanists in small and/or isolated colleges.

A special appeal was also made to all major Programs of African Studies to discuss the issues raised by the report and was followed with a draft report covering all the major points raised in the outline. This draft report was discussed in detail with the faculty and a selected group of advanced graduate students in the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University and subsequently formed the basis for a meeting in Evanston of directors of major Programs of African Studies. Directors or their representatives from nine of these centers - - UCLA, Wisconsin, Chicago, Indiana, Michigan State University, Boston University, Howard, Syracuse, and the University of Florida -- attended the meeting, which proved to be extremely helpful. Previousy, the draft report was also discussed with representatives from Berkeley and from the Connecticut Valley.

The report reflects what proved to be a very wide measure of consensus about the present status and the particular needs of African Studies. It is sincerely hoped that the International Education Act will enable gains to date to be consolidated and progress to be made in the ways identified in the report.

Interest in African studies has long been an established tradition of Duquesne University and its founders, the Fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, who began missionary work in Africa in the year 1778. By this tradition, books on Africa have been treasured ever since the University Library came into existence.

In November 1956, with the inauguration of the new Institute of African Affairs at Duquesne, special efforts were made to develop the collection to include large quantities of government documents, serial publications and books, and to enlist the active interest and assistance of Holy Ghost Fathers in obtaining and preserving material on Africa. The initial steps taken were all well received. Invaluable source materials poured in from the continent of Africa and from all over the world. This greatly strengthened the original collection.