It is an interdisciplinary center with previous directors of the institute coming from the fields of English, Fine Arts and History.
From 1970, the institute directed increased focus to the cultural identity of groups from the Southeastern region of Nigeria.
[2] In the early 1970s, it began publishing Ikenga and Ikorok, the former a scholarly journal on African studies and the latter, a bulletin of activities and research of the institute.
[3] In 1982, a salvage project was initiated to record and document practices and norms of the Igbo speaking peoples of Southeastern Nigeria.
This collection included traditional folklore, medical practices, food, clothing and oral history.