African Arts, the quarterly journal published by the UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center, has partnered with the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to create a consortium that will share editorial oversight and financial support for the journal. In 2017, Rhodes University of South Africa will join the consortium, enabling the journal to include editorial representation from the African continent.
The UCLA editorial team, led by executive editor Leslie Ellen Jones, includes Marla C. Berns, director of the Fowler Museum; and faculty members Patrick Polk, Allen F. Roberts and Mary (Polly) Nooter Roberts of the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance.
African Studies Center Steven Nelson, noted, “The consortium is an exciting proposition that will bring new editorial viewpoints to African Arts and ensure its continued existence as the leading journal in its field.” Consortium publishing is a new way to share the duties of high-quality academic publishing in an era of decreasing academic financial resources and increasing administrative demands upon educators’ time.
African Arts was founded at UCLA in 1967 as a quarterly magazine devoted to the graphic, plastic, performing and literary arts of Africa, traditional and contemporary, with an intended audience of academics, art collectors and general interest readers. Over the decades, it has evolved into an academic journal focused on the visual cultures of Africa, featuring abundant full-color illustration and cutting-edge scholarship.The journal is archived online at JSTOR. Starting with Volume 49 this year, it is also through Project Muse.
Learn more about the journal and consortium in this story at the UCLA African Studies Center.
