About Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS)

CAAS is:

A COMMUNITY OF AFRICANISTS brought together by common goals and sustained by the networks that our diverse scholarly activities generate and support. This unique Africanist community originated in December 1962 with the formation of the Canadian Committee of African Studies as part of the African Studies Association (ASA) of the United States. In 1970 the Canadian Committee decided to leave the ASA to form an autonomous Africanist organization which became the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS).

The objectives of CAAS are:

  1. To promote the study of Africa in Canada;
  2. To make Canadians more aware of the problems and aspirations of Africans;
  3. To inform Canadian policy on and in Africa
  4. To facilitate exchanges and linkages between Canadian and African universities and research institutions.

In the fulfillment of these objectives, CAAS has expanded geographically and now has members in all parts of the world. While the CAAS Secretariat has operated since 2010 out of the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario Canada, our “centre” is this website, which is a product of our publishing partnership with Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group (in England) launched in 2012. CAAS invites you to join our interactive community by consulting our website regularly and by becoming a member of our dynamic Africanist network.

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL which has been the voice of Canadian and international Africanists involved in scholarly and scientific research since 1967. The Canadian Journal of African Studies (CJAS) strives to offer a more comprehensive understanding of the changing African reality through the regular (three issues per year) publication of the latest scholarly research in the Humanities and Social Sciences. CJAS is committed to publishing in English and French.

AN ANNUAL CONFERENCE held at a different Canadian university campus each year. The conferences bring together specialists on Africa including prominent officials from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as non-academics whose work involves them with Africa. The conference attaches importance to assuring the participation and support of graduate students studying at Canadian universities.

A LISTSERV that facilitates communication between CAAS members and invites discussion, debate and the sharing of information and announcements.