THIS FALL, in response to student demand and at the initiative of the universitywide African Studies Committee, UB is introducing classroom instruction in Swahili, the principal language of eastern and central Africa.

The course was developed by the World Languages Institute administered by the UB Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.

It will be taught by Adjunct Professor Simon Chilungu, a native Kenyan who holds a doctorate from UB and is on the faculty of Buffalo State College.

Mark Ashwill, who directs the World Languages Institute, said UB is offering Swahili 101 this Fall. Swahili 102 will begin in the Spring of 1996.

The program will be expanded in the 1996-97 academic year to a two-year, four-semester course sequence. Courses in Hausa and Zulu may be added during the 1996-97 academic year if there is student demand.

Peter Ekeh, professor and chair of the UB Department of African American Studies and chair of the African Studies Committee, said these language programs eventually may serve as a base for an African area studies program that would coordinate faculty, student and visiting-scholar exchange programs, as well as instruction in African languages, cultures, politics and economics.