On 7 May at 15:00 hrs. (sharp), Tycho van der Hoog will defend his dissertation 'North Korea and the Liberation of Southern Africa, 1960-2020'. This thesis explores North Korea’s influential role in the liberation of Southern Africa and describes how African states repay this historical aid today.
The Library of the African Studies Centre Leiden will be closed from Monday 20 May until (including) Tuesday 4 June 2024. The library of the ASCL will re-open as the African Library on Wednesday 5 June in the Herta Mohr building, located at the Faculty of Humanities.
On 22 March, the first-year students of the ResMA African Studies organised a conference on mineral resource extraction. Bringing together their expertise and that of the guest speakers and various attendees allowed for varied and multidisciplinary discussions of the many dimensions of mineral resource extraction across the continent.
The African Studies Centre Leiden is sad to report that Laurens van der Laan passed away in Oegstgeest on 22 March 2024. Van der Laan was a researcher at the ASC from 1969 till his retirement in 1997. Van der Laan’s main publications are on the economy and trade in West Africa, particularly on Sierre Leone.
Mayke Kaag has been appointed Professor of the Anthropology of Politics and Governance in Africa at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology on behalf of the ASCL. Kaag will further develop research on the politics of education in Africa, and on trust, distrust and trust making in African politics and governance.