African-Language Study in the 21st Century: Expansion through Collaboration and Technology

Abstract

The formal study of African languages in U.S. universities began with the passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958. Title VI of that act supported the establishment of "centers for the teaching of any modem foreign language [that is] needed by the federal government or by business, industry or education" and for which "adequate instruction is not readily available in the United States." The act also authorized fellowships for those undergoing advanced training in these languages.! Over the next two decades, a small number of universities successfully competed for the federal funding from NDEA and subsequent acts that established Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships and later Title VI National Resource Centers (NRCs) for African studies. During the 1960s and 1970s, the decolonization movement in Africa, the creation of the Peace Corps, and the rise of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in the United States fueled an interest in Africa among students. A growing number of young linguists were also becoming fluent in African languages, and these linguists used their fluency to conduct research. Another trend of the period was that a growing number of Africans came to U.S. universities to study, and Title VI NRCs found a convenient and cost-effective ar-