A group of faculty, primarily in the Humanities, began the push for increased and coordinated Africa area studies on the University of Georgia campus in the mid-eighties. In 1987, these faculty members formed a faculty interest group. It is interesting to note that African Studies was just a fledgling academic discipline at this time, especially in the United States. The faculty interest group of the late eighties has blossomed into one of the leading African Studies Institutes in the Southeast region and the nation. And during the last quarter of a century, the field of African Studies has crystalized into an academic discipline that not only studies the societies and cultures of the African continent, but also imparts Africa-centered ways of knowing.