Languages and Cultures of Africa

• African geography and modern political situation
• African literatures in European languages
• African art
• Amharic, Bambana, Hausa, Swahili
• Fundamentals of African Studies
• History of Africa
• French
• Literatures in African Languages
• Internship. Research Project
• Islam in Africa

• St Petersburg is one of the few academic centres in the world where there is a university department, research institutions, and a museum collection devoted to Africa. The Department of African Studies is the oldest university department of African Studies in the USSR/Russia (since 1944/45). It has many years of experience of teaching African languages combined with a comprehensive set of courses that are relevant for African studies. The programme makes it possible not only to shape a multi-faceted outlook, but also provides a better understanding of oneself

• The programme is aimed at training specialists with an in-depth knowledge in the field of African culture in its various aspects. The graduates of the programme will be ready to continue their academic career in the largest scientific centres of Paris, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Moscow and St Petersburg
• The curriculum of the master’s programme is highly relevant not only to the graduate Africanists, but also to those who are experts in other fields, but are interested in acquiring an in-depth knowledge in African cultures
• Our graduates are much in demand in: diplomatic missions; international organisations (e.g. United Nations Organizations, International Committee of the Red Cross, etc.); and companies dealing with Africa

Entering Research and Professional Community

• Our students have an opportunity to take part in the regular biannual conference on African studies and many other international conferences on special topics dealing with Africa

Additional Opportunities

• There is a special scholarship for research field work in Africa for young scholars ‘The Voices of Africa’ and a special scholarship (named after Mikhail Bogolubov) for BA and MA students making research in the field of linguistics

Knowledge of the ethnolinguistic situation in the region and ability to understand the multicultural environment; basic knowledge of African languages.

Our students have an opportunity to take part in the regular biannual conference on African studies and many other international conferences on special topics dealing with Africa.

• Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
• Universität Hamburg
• University of Helsinki

The programme works in close cooperation with such organisations as:

• Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera)
• INALCO and LLACAN (Paris)
• Universität Hamburg; the University of Helsinki
• the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Dar-es-Salaam
• American University of Nigeria
• Gazprom-Nigeria

• Head of the programme is Alexander Zheltov, Professor, PhD, Doctor in Philology, Fulbright scholar at the University of California, Berkeley in 2002-2003, Head of the Department of African Ethnography in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera)
• All professors have an experience of field work in African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali, Guinea, Rwanda, and Côte d'Ivoire