Art and Life in Africa Project, Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa. Art & Life in Africa. CD-ROM. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa. 1998.
This CD-ROM takes a thematic approach that emphasizes the various contexts in which aesthetic objects function in African societies. Two modules form the heart of the CD: a thematic overview of how art functions in African societies and a set of thirty-seven essays by leading scholars that draw upon their fieldwork in various dimensions of African art history.

Coplan, David B. In Township Tonight!: South Africa’s Black City Music and Theatre. Johannesburg: Ravan Press; 1985.
Excellent study of township music and musicians in South Africa and the social and political issues which their music addresses.

Perani, Judith and Fred T. Smith. The Visual Arts of Africa: Gender, Power and Life Cycle Rituals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 1998.
Well-written overview of the styles, forms and meanings of a wide range of African arts.

Phillips, Ruth B. Representing Women: Sande Masquerades of the Mende of Sierra Leone. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History; 1995.
This well-written and well-illustrated text explores the social and cultural contexts of the masquerade arts of the Sande society, an initiation society of the Mende people of Sierra Leone.

Prussin, Labelle. African Nomadic Architecture: Space, Place, and Gender. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press; 1995.
Lavishly illustrated, well-written and researched study of African nomadic architecture, focusing on building materials and techniques, gender-specific labor, and the technological and environmental knowledge that women bring to the work of creating their nomadic homes. Highly recommended.

Samatar, Said Sheikh, et al. Somalia in Word and Image. Edited by Katheryne S. Loughran. Washington, DC: Foundation for Cross Cultural Understanding in cooperation with Indiana University Press, Bloomington; 1986 (c. 1982).
Important, well-illustrated publication that showcases Somali arts, both verbal and visual. Highly recommended.

Blakely, Thomas D, et al. (Editor). Religion in Africa: Experience and Expression. Portsmouth, NH: Heineman; 1994.
Essays by a broad range of scholars touch on various aspects of African religious beliefs and practices.

Haviland, William. Anthropology. Eighth Edition. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich College Publishers; 1997.
Very useful text that covers all the major branches of anthropology, including physical, cultural, economic, political and linguistic.

Haviland, William. Cultural Anthropology. Eighth Edition. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich College Publishers; 1995.
Provides a solid overview of the issues and approaches to the study of human cultures.

Martin, Phillis M. and Patrick O’Meara. Africa. Second Edition. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press; 1986.
Well-organized and thorough text that provides a useful overview to African history, economics, political systems, cultures and the arts.

Mbiti, John S. African Religions and Philosophy. Second Revised and Enlarged Edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann; 1990.
Introductory overview of concepts and practice of African religions.

Microsoft. Microsoft Encarta Africana. CD-ROM. 1999.
The collaborative effort of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., chairman of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University, Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy at Harvard University, and Microsoft, Encarta Africana makes use of a multimedia format to highlight its content. Through interactive audio, video and text formats, users are able to discover the music, dance, art, sports, political activism and historical achievements of people of African descent around the world.

Potts, Richard. Humanity’s Descent: the Consequences of Ecological Instability. First Edition. New York: Morrow; 1996.
Excellent study of human evolution and its relationship to the natural environment by one of America’s leading anthropologists. Accessible to general readers and scholars alike.

Ray, Benjamin C. African Religions: Symbol, Ritual, and Community. Revised Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 1999.
Solid overview of African religious beliefs and practices.

Collins, Robert O. Central and Southern African History. New York: M. Weiner Publisher; 1990.
Good selection of primary source extracts for history of this region.

Collins, Robert O. Eastern African History. New York: M. Weiner Publisher; 1990.
Good selection of primary source extracts for history of this region.

Collins, Robert O. Western African History. New York: M. Weiner Publisher; 1990 (c. 1971).
Good selection of primary source extracts for history of this region.

Curtin, Philip, et al. African History. Revised Edition. Harlow, Essex, United Kingdom: Longman; 1995.
Revised edition provides an excellent overview of African history.

Iliffe, John. Africans: The History of a Continent. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press; 1995.
Overview of African history.

Isichei, Elizabeth Allo. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press; 1997.
Good historical study of pre-20th century African history.

Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. Revised Edition. New York: St. Martin’s Press; 1995.
Solid, well-written text covering Africa’s long and complex history. Highly recommended.

MacGaffey, W. and M. Harris. Astonishment and Power. Washington, DC: National Museum of African Art; 1993.

Thompson, Robert Farris. Face of the Gods: Art and Altars of Africa and the African Americas. New York: Museum for African Art and Munich, Prestel; 1993.

Thornton, John Kelly. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800. Second Edition. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press; 1998.
Excellent source for African and African Diasporan history. Highly recommended.

Wafer, Jim. The Taste of Blood: Spirit Possession in Brazilian Candomblé. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press; 1991.

Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1998.

Berlin, Ira, M. Favreau, and S. Miller, eds. Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation. New York: New Press in association with the Library of Congress; 1998. [Published with two sixty-minute audio tapes.]

Curtin, Phillip. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press; 1969.

Karasch, Mary. Slave life in Rio de Janeiro, 1808-1850. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1987.

Klein, Herbert. The Atlantic Slave Trade. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Walsh, Lorena. From Calabar to Carter’s Grove: The History of a Virginia Slave Community. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia; 1997.