Maryknoll Institute of African Studies Nairobi

The Maryknoll Institute of African Studies (MIAS), a postgraduate Institute located in Nairobi Kenya, was founded and sponsored in 1989 by the US based Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Africa Region.In 1994 the Institute affiliated academically with Saint Mary’s University of MN/USA, an accredited University* and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities. This affiliation has been mutually beneficial as Saint Mary’s University registers and awards four graduate credits per course, generates transcripts. In turn, the Institute expresses Saint Mary’s outreach beyond the U.S. borders, and conveys Saint Mary’s name and excellence into the higher education circles of Nairobi, Kenya. Moreover, Saint Mary’s has been sponsoring and sending selected members of its faculty to Nairobi since 2002 to take courses during the Immersion sessions for the sake of faculty updating. n 1999 the Maryknoll Institute of African Studies affiliated academically with Tangaza University College, Nairobi Kenya, a constituent college of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. This affiliation has also been mutually beneficial as Tangaza University College grants a joint Tangaza University College/Saint Mary’s University Certificate for any three courses while maintaining a minimum 2.5 (C+) grade point average. Tangaza College also grants a Tangaza University College Diploma for five courses which must include the courses on “African Culture: An Overview” and “African Religion,” while maintaining a minimum 3.0 (B) grade point average. In turn, the Institute has brought onto the Tangaza Campus a unique program of African studies that has influenced the wider community to the point that 30% of Tangaza’s faculty and five of the seven directors of the other Tangaza Institutes have taken MIAS courses. Furthermore, the Institute has a 12,000 volume library specializing in Africana that is available to all Tangaza faculty and students.