At the University of Bayreuth (UBT), the study of African languages is a multifaceted endeavor. We consider African languages in all their manifestations and dynamics – from words and sentences to novels and poems – as primary keys to African concepts and lifeworlds. African Linguistics, Literatures in African Languages, African and Afrophone Philosophies, and African Languages and the Construction of Knowledge complement each other in teaching and research:

African Linguistics 
Niger-Congo languages with regional foci on Bantu languages of Southern Africa; also on Gur and Mande languages as well as thematic foci on historical linguistics, language description, language contact, and sociolinguistics.

Literatures in African Languages
Focus on comparative literatures in African languages, Swahili literature, manuscript studies and poetics with a regional focus on Eastern Africa.

African and Afrophone Philosophies
The Professorship of African and Afrophone Philosophies delivers teaching and research in the fields of African and Comparative Philosophy as well as in Afrophone Philosophies (philosophies in African languages).

African Languages and the Construction of Knowledge
The Professorship African Languages and the Construction of Knowledge is devoted to the interdisciplinary work of the documentation and description of language and knowledge. 

Members of these fields of expertise are actively involved in the academic projects of the Institute of African Studies

For more information see: About.