Each year approximately 80 MSU faculty and students travel to Africa to study, teach, or work. There they conduct research, establish linkages, recruit students, consult on continuing projects, and provide technical assistance to deal with the continent's pressing needs for education, health, shelter, agriculture, and economic growth. Currently, the Center and the College of Social Science support a half-time Center Associate Director for Environment and Development for developing a task force, seminars, special lectures, and new research projects on that topic. The Center works closely with the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, offering instruction in 25 African languages for both undergraduate and graduate students during each term, including an annual Summer Intensive African Language Institute. Competitive fellowships for qualified graduate students in African Language and Area Studies are provided through the Center with Title VI funding and for undergraduate students and faculty of four-year institutions through the College of Arts and Letters.
Fellowships are available for both the regular academic year and summer intensive language study.
Major concentrations of African study offered to graduate students include African art, languages and linguistics, anthropology, criminal justice, economics and agricultural economics, geography, political science, sociology, racial and ethnic studies, history, agriculture, medicine and health, education studies, and many more. The Undergraduate Specialization in African Studies offers a broad view of the history, geography, languages, societies and politics of Africa and provides an opportunity for in-depth study in the specific areas of the student's interests. Students remain enrolled in a department of the university, while obtaining an African Studies certificate with at least 30 credit hours of African-related courses. Completion of the Undergraduate Specialization in African Studies is noted on the student's university transcript. The Center sponsors special programs for undergraduates, including an academic year study at the University of Zimbabwe and other African universities, gallery visits to nearby African art exhibits, and assistance in finding summer programs about or in Africa.