African Studies Home

African Civilizations
Internet Resources and Reference in Print

Compiled by Dr. Yuusuf S. Caruso,
African Studies Librarian, Columbia University
(caruso@columbia.edu)
for a Contemporary Civilization course at Columbia College.
Only Columbia students and faculty can view current visual hour materials in CourseWorks
or the old web site from on campus: "African Civilizations" Online (2005).

Contents

• Geopolitical Focus: Country Web Pages
• Ideas of Africa, Africans Abroad, & Writers as Public Intellectuals
• Selected Reference Sources in Print at Columbia
• General Internet Resources

Geopolitical Focus: Country Web Pages

• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Mali
• Zimbabwe

Ideas of Africa, Africans Abroad, & Writers as Public Intellectuals

• Africa (PBS Online, Public Broadcasting Corporation, Alexandria, Virginia)
  Promotional site for "Africa" the 8 part television series co-produced by WNET/Thirteen's Nature and The National Geographic Society, which begins airing in September 2001. The site includes excerpted texts, photos, "teacher tools", and other resources. See also, the National Geographic website.
  
  
• African Biography on the Internet (Columbia University)
  
  
• African Literature on the Internet (Columbia University)
  
  
• African Philosophy Resources (Prof. Bruce B. Janz. University of Central Florida, Orlando)
  An extensive list of links to online texts, websites, and related resources on a variety of topics.
  
  
• African Traditional Religion (Chidi Denis Isizoh, Italy)
  This web site offers an extensive list of links to information about African traditional religions on the Internet. The author also includes an impressive list of sources on the subject, "Bibliography on African Traditional Religion" (2005).
  
  
• Ancient Egypt on the Internet (Columbia University)
  
  
• The Bernal-Lefkowitz Debate Over the Origins of Ancient "Greek" Civilization and the Significance of Ancient Egypt
  • Afrocentricity and the Black Athena Debate (Professor Wim van Binsbergen, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; via GeoCities)
  • Beyond the Bernal-Lefkowitz Debate: Ibrahim Sundiata on "Afrocentrism: the argument we're really having". In Dissonance: a journal of things that do not fit. September 30, 1996.
  • Excerpts from: Not out of Africa by Mary Lefkowitz (From the original book published by BasicBooks, 1996; via "Points of View", The History Place)
  
  
• "The Black Presence in Antiquity: A Selected Bibliography". Compiled by Leida I. Torres and Andrea Only. (Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University Libraries, Washington, DC)
  A list of print publications available at Howard University.
  
  
• G.I. Jones' Photographic Archive of Southeastern Nigerian Art & Culture (via Southern Illinois University)
  "This is an archive of digitized photographs depicting the arts and cultures of southeastern Nigeria. The collection includes examples from Ibibio, Igbo, Ijo and Ogoni speaking peoples. All of the photographs were taken in the 1930s by the late G.I. Jones, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge. The majority of the images are from the Igbo speaking regions where Jones conducted most of his research."
  
  
• A Guide to African Studies Videos at Columbia University
  
  
• Maps of Africa (Columbia University)
  • A list of online maps and other Internet resources for African geography, plus a special bibliography on researching "Maps and Power in Modern African History".
    See also:
    
  • Facts on File -- World Atlas. (Online) Curriculum resource center. (New York: Facts on File, Inc., c2002-)
  • Stanford University Libraries' Maps of Africa Online below.
  
  
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York -- African Art
  • Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History -- Africa
    
    
  • Ancient Egyptian Art -- Special Exhibitions and Web Resources
    
    
  • Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (Permanent Collection)
    This web site features thumbnail images of selected objects in the permanent collection and a general search tool.
    
    
  • Echoing images: couples in African sculpture, February 10--September 5, 2004
    
    
  • Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture, November 2002--July 2003
    
    
  • Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination (2000) Explore & Learn.
    The "scholarly resource" is still accessible, including essays, glossary, images, and bibliography.
    
    
  • Masterhand: Individuality and Creativity among Yoruba Sculptors (1997-2000) Explore & Learn.
  
  
• National Geographic. (Online): Views of Africa, September 2005
  -- Washington, DC: The National Geographic Society, 2005.
  A special issue focusing on African reports, in-depth reports, photographs, and Africa Map and Archive of selected articles from previous issues of this popular magazine.
  
  
• PBS Online: Wonders of the African World, with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
  • The web site that accompanies the television series -- a travel show, with brief history lessons and Gates' own personal views. The site includes teaching resources, background information, and brief supplementary texts, video files, and small photos. Featured in the series: the Nile River valley in Egypt and The Sudan, Ethiopia, the Swahili coast, Bénin (Dahomey), Ghana (Asante), Mali, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
  • "Special Issue on 'Wonders of the African World'". West Africa review. (Online) Vol. 1, no. 2 -and- no. 2a (January and March 2000)
    -- Binghamton, NY: Africa Resource Center, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1999-.
    Debates by Ali A. Mazrui, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Wole Soyinka, Joseph Inikori, Molefi Kete Asante, and many others. See also, the Home Page of "West Africa Review. (Online)".
  
  
• Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African Art: "Ethiopian Icons: Faith and Science", January 31 - October 3, 2003 Exhibition (Washington, DC)
  The website includes Ethiopian Orthodox Christian icons from the 17th to the 19th centuries (and processional crosses), with a brief curator's introduction and a description of recent conservation efforts at the museum. See also, a short bibliography.
  
  
• Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History: African Voices (Washington, DC)
  • This web site offers glimpses (images and explanatory texts) of the permanent "African" exhibitions at the museum, plus:
  • African history timeline
    The Nile Valley, Mali, and Ethiopia are major features; plus other themes.
  • Bibliography
  • Web links
  
  
• Stanford University Libraries: Maps of Africa Online Humanities Digital Information Service Luna Insight Service (Stanford, California)
  Stanford has made available online the maps --578 images-- from the Norwich Collection of Maps of Africa and Its Islands [***the book on this map collection is kept on Butler Reserves or in the "African Studies Reading Room", 607 Butler]. Also included in the digital image collection are maps from Stanford's Antiquarian Maps Collection relating to Africa.
  
  
• Tierno Bokar -- U.S. Premiere, March 30 - April 26, 2005, Barnard Hall, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York.
  • Tierno Bokar: Educational Resources (Columbia faculty and students only.)
  
  
• UNESCO--United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: World Heritage
  • WH General Home Page
  • The World Heritage List: 2007 (General)
  
  
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries: Africa Focus: Sights and Sounds of a Continent (University of Wisconsin-Madison African Studies Program and the Libraries, USA)
  Under construction: Downloadable images, sound files, and other materials on Africa. "This online collection ... contains digitized visual images and sounds of Africa contributed over the years to the African Studies Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These digital files are stored in an accessible database and provided for personal use or educational presentations ... New links and search features will be included over the course of construction."

General Internet Resources

• African Art & Archaeology (Columbia University)
  
  
• African Biography on the Internet (Columbia University)
  
  
• African Diaspora on the Internet (Columbia University)
  
  
• Electronic Journals and Newspapers on Africa (Columbia University)
  
  
• Films and Videos on Africa (Columbia University)
  
  
• General News, Sports, & Information Services on Africa (Columbia University)
  
  
• General Resources on Islam (Columbia University)
  
  
• "Using Google for African studies research: a guide to effective Web searching" Chapter 25 in
  The African studies companion. (Online) -- Lochcarron, Scotland, UK : Hans Zell, 2006--
  
  
• History & Cultures of Africa (Columbia University)
  
  
• How To Cite Internet Resources: Online Guides (Columbia University)
  
  
• Libraries and Bibliographic Resources on Africa (Columbia University)
  
  
• Music and Dance of Africa (Columbia University)
  
  
• Religion in Africa (Columbia University)