African Studies

Background information can be found in encyclopedias, dictionaries and bibliographies.  UBC Library provides access to many excellent resources in both print and online versions; a select number are listed below.

• African Biographical Archive (microform) provides access to biographical information on 88,000 individuals from the whole African continent, from the age of the Pharaohs to the present day. The printed index (3 v.) is available in Koerner Microforms Reference at CT1920.A37 1999.
• Africa Yearbook (online) series covers major political developments, foreign policy and socio-economic trends in sub-Saharan Africa year by year (2005-present).
• Bute, E. L., & Harmer, H. J. P. (1997). The Black Handbook: the people, history, and politics of Africa and the African diaspora. London: Cassell. Also available online.
• Jenkins, E. (1996). Pan-African chronology: a comprehensive reference to the Black quest for freedom in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co.
• Kagan, A., & Batoma, A. (2005). Reference guide to Africa: a bibliography of sources. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. Also available online.
• Layiwola, D. (1999). Handbook of Methodology in African Studies. Ibadan: John Archers.
• Lea, D., & Rowe, A. (2001). Political Chronology of Africa. London: Europa Publications. Also available online.
• Stone, R. M. (2008). The Garland handbook of African music. New York: Routledge. Also available online.
• Yakan, M. Z. (1999). Almanac of African peoples & nations. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction.
• Zell, H. M. (2006). The African studies companion: A guide to information sources (4th rev. and expand ed.). Lochcarron, Scotland: Hans Zell Pub. Also available online.

• Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society (2016)
• African Folklore: An Encyclopedia (2003), also available online
• African Historical Dictionaries series includes dictionaries for each country in Africa.
• African States and Rulers (2006)
• Africana: The Encyclopedia of African and African American Experience (2005)
• Dictionary of the African Left (1989)
• Encyclopedia of 20th Century African History (2003), also available online
• Encyclopedia of Africa (2010)
• Encyclopedia of African religion (2009)
• Encyclopedia of African American history, 1619-1895 : from the colonial period to the age of Frederick Douglass (2006), also available online
• Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the present (2009)
• Encyclopedia of African and African American Religions (2001)
• Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture (2008)
• Encyclopedia of African History (2005), also available online
• Encyclopedia of African History and Culture (2001)
• Encyclopedia of African Nations and Civilizations (2002)
• Encyclopedia of Black Studies (2005)
• Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity (2005), also available online
• Greenwood milestones in African American history series, including:
  • Encyclopedia of American race riots (2006)
  • Encyclopedia of antislavery and abolition (2007)
  • Encyclopedia of the great Black migration (2006) (Vol. 3 contains primary documents)
• Historical Dictionary of Pre-Colonial Africa (2001)
• Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa (1999)
• Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa (2005)
• Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought (2010)
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (2001), also available online
• Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary (1996)
• Political and Economic Dictionary of Africa (2004)

• African Oral Narratives is a free, open access digital library containing 6 collections of oral and life histories, folklore, and songs from Ethiopia, Ghana, and South Africa.
• Black Thought and Culture is an electronic collection of approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major black leaders in North America.
• Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966 gathers important papers from the British Foreign and Colonial Offices and covers the entire modern period of European colonization of the African continent..
• Empire Online includes manuscripts, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' during the last five centuries.
• Early Encounters in North America documents the relationships among peoples in North America from 1534 to 1850.
• Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 is a portal for slavery and abolition studies that focuses on legacy of slavery, social justice issues and the continued existence of slavery today.
• Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive consists of 5.4 million cross-searchable pages from books, pamphlets, newspapers, manuscripts, legal documents and court records.
• Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa focuses on the complex and varied liberation struggles in the region, with an emphasis on Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
• Women and Social Movements in the United States: 1600-2000 examines perspectives on women's social movements from colonial times to the present.

• African American Women Writers of the 19th Century is a digital collection of 42 published works by 19th century Black women writers.
• Black Drama: 1850 to Present contains the full text of 1,200 plays written by more than 150 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. Many of the works are rare, hard to find, or out of print.
• Cambridge companion to the African novel (2009), also available online
• Cambridge history of African and Caribbean literature (2004), also available online (volume 1 & volume 2)
• Columbia guide to East African literature in English since 1945 (2007)
• Columbia guide to Central African literature in English since 1945 (2008)
• Columbia guide to West African literature in English since 1945 (2008)
• Companion to African literatures (2020)
• Companion to African literatures (2000)
• Encyclopedia of African Literature (2003)
• World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Africa (2001)

• Africa Bibliography is an annual bibliography of Africa that focuses on social sciences, humanities, arts and environmental studies. Also available online.
• Bibliographies and indexes in Afro-American and African studies series includes a number of bibliographies in African and African diaspora studies, including:
  • History of Blacks in Canada: a selectively annotated bibliography (2003)
  • African American women: an annotated bibliography (2001)
  • Contemporary African American female playwrights: an annotated bibliography (1998)
  • Ashe, traditional religion and healing in Sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora: a classified international bibliography (1989)
• Oxford Bibliographies Online - African Studies combines the best features of an annotated bibliography with those of a high-level encyclopedia, to identify the best available scholarship.