History of the Program

The African Language Program (ALP) at Harvard University was established in 2003 in the Department of African and African American Studies. ALP offers instruction in more than fifteen languages every semester and has offered more than 40 languages since inception.

African languages can be taken to fulfill the foreign language requirement for Harvard College. These languages are a core part of the African Studies Track in the Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS) and relate well to a variety of courses within Harvard College, and other constituents of Harvard University.