Each century has its dominant themes, which invest with particular significance all the varied events and situations which are chronicled as history. As “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” dominated the eighteenth century, and slavery, abolition and emancipation agitated the nineteenth, so the liberation movement or decolonization is one of the outstanding phenomena of the twentieth century. Save for the great issues of communism versus capitalism, and the geopolitical and ethical considerations surrounding nuclear weapons and rocketry, no other issue has so captured men's imaginations and allegiance or wrought such dramatic transformation in the status and condition of peoples. The remarkable effect of this phenomenon can be demonstrated by reference to the continent of Africa alone, although the full significance and effect can be grasped only by appreciating similar transformations in Asia, in the Caribbean, and miscellaneous other places in the world.

For many decades prior to 1957, there had been only two independent states in the whole of Africa. The continent which had been the cradle of human civilization and enriched the cultures of many other distant lands and nations had seen its lights of freedom snuffed out one by one. My own country, in which the oldest surviving evidences of early human society exist, struggled valiantly but vainly to resist the tide of European imperialism which flowed irresistibly over Africa -- indeed over most of the world -- and was at its full flood during the latter half of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth century. Only Ethiopia, with its proud dynasty tracing its lineage backward through two thousands of years, and Liberia -- a symbol of the brave efforts of the emancipation movement -- survived the blandishments and violence of the imperialist forces. Those forces had signified their ascendancy in the Berlin Treaty of 1885, and for another three-quarters of a century the eclipse of freedom in this part of the world justified its description as “the Dark Continent.”

Le nombre de publications s'intérressant à l'Afrique est de plus en plus grand et il est de plus en plus difficile de couvir l'ensemble de la documentation concernant l'Afrique noire.

Dans cet article, nous ne donnerons qu'un bref aperçu de l'ensemble des publications. Nous n'envisagerons ici que l'Afrique noire à l'exclusion de Madagascar, encore que de nombreuses revues citees concernent egalement la grand ile.

Une remarque préliminaire s'impose, c'est, le domaine des sciences naturelles excepte, l'absence de spécialisation veritable des revues qui concernent soit l'ancien domaine colonial, soit ce que nous appelons maintenant le Tiers Monde.

A cette absence de spécialisation des revues, correspond bien souvent une absence de spécialisation des articles, tel article sur une tribu du Centre-Afrique ou du Nord-Dahomey faisant intervenir simultanément la géographie, l'histoire, l'ethnologie, la religion, le développement économique etc.

The African-American Institute quietly rounds its first decade this year, as vastly transformed within during this eventful period as Africa has been without. The Institute's anniversary marks a significant milestone in the history of contemporary U.S. - African relations. The event is perhaps no less noteworthy for the history of area-oriented private American organizations.

The early work of the Institute addressed itself mainly to assisting African students and visitors in this country, and to informing an American public still largely unaware of Africa's growing ferment. It was in 1956, for instance, that AFRICA REPORT began publication, quickly gaining for itself an influential place as America's leading publication on contemporary African affairs.

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.

The International African Institute is organising a seminar on the Emergence of New Social Classes and the Roles of Elites in Contemporary Africa, to be held from Tuesday, July 14, to Thursday, July 23, 1964, at the University of Ibadan by courtesy of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor K. O. Dike.

This will be the second in a new series of international African seminars arranged with the aid of a grant from the Ford Foundation; it follows the completion of a first series of four seminars in the years 1959-1961. The seminars are devoted to research problems of significance for further social, economic and educational development in Africa. An important aim is to provide opportunities for research workers and other scholars holding posts in various parts of Africa to establish closer contact with each other and with their colleagues overseas, and to exchange views on problems and methods of research.

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.

The Third West African Languages Congress took place in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from March 26 to April 1, 1963. This was the third of the annual meetings of those interested in West African languages sponsored by the West African Languages Survey, previous meetings having been held in Accra (1961) and Dakar (1962). The West African Languages Survey is a Ford Foundation project. Additional financial assistance from UNESCO and other sources contributed materially to the scope and success of the meeting.

This meeting was larger than previous ones both in attendance and in number of papers presented and, it may be said, in regard to the scientific level of the papers presented. The official participants, seventy-two in number, came from virtually every country in West Africa, from Western European countries and from the United States. The linguistic theme of the meeting was the syntax of West African languages, and a substantial portion of the papers presented were on this topic. In addition, there was for the first time at these meetings a symposium on the teaching of English, French and African languages in Africa. The papers of this symposium will be published in the forthcoming series of monographs planned as a supplement to the new Journal of West African Languages. The other papers are to appear in the Journal of African Languages edited by Jack Berry of the School of Oriental and African Studies.

The University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland has announced the following teaching program available to American college graduates for the course commencing in March 1964.

Bursaries: Graduates selected are offered bursaries of 350 pounds to enable them to take the one-year course leading to the Postgraduate Certificate in Education of London University. Tuition fees (50 pounds) and residence fees (115. 10.0 for the three terms) are payable to the College.

Fares: Sea and rail (or air) fares to Salisbury will be paid, and a reasonable allowance can be claimed for excess baggage.

Agreement: Graduates selected will be required to teach for two years on completion of the P.C.E. course. At the time of application for a bursary, graduates will be asked to indicate whether they wish to join the Northern Rhodesia or the Southern Rhodesia Ministry of African Education.

Salaries: Commencing salaries in Northern Rhodesia are 1, 070 pounds for both men and women. In Southern Rhodesia, the commencing salary of General graduates is 1,100 pounds for men and 915 pounds for women; good Honours graduates receive somewhat more.