Since its establishment in 1959, UCLA’s James S. Coleman African Studies Center (ASC) has been dedicated to teaching, research, and public understanding related to Africa. ASC is recognized as one of the preeminent institutions of its kind worldwide and has held major funding from the U.S. Department of Education since 1959. ASC is currently the only Title VI National Resource Center west of the Mississippi. Its educational mission is especially vital in this age when the world’s peoples are coming closer and closer together while at the same time they are at risk of growing further and further apart.

ASC’s online publications are devoted to addressing the challenges of preparing the next generation of global citizens. Well-informed global citizens need to learn about and come to appreciate the non-Western world and be exposed to academic content that deals with non-Western societies. UCLA provides an ideal resource to further this agenda. ASC is known for interdisciplinary innovation and assists students interested in Africa in understanding the vital connections among social welfare and the arts; environmental studies and international politics; African religions (Islam, Christianity, and traditional faiths) and urban development.