Strategic Partners

APAD – the Euro-African Association for the Anthropology of Social Change and Development
www.association-apad.org
APAD is a network promoting dialogue between African and European researchers in the social sciences as well as with developments agents.
Initially devoted to the empirical studies of interactions brought about by development, APAD’s approach has evolved towards research regarding social change in its broadest sense on the African continent. It has its own bi-annual bulletin, that appears online and in printed form. It organizes international conferences.

ASSR – Amsterdam School for Social Research
www2.fmg.uva.nl/assr

The Amsterdam School for Social Research aims to be a focal point for social scientists doing interdisciplinary, comparative and historical research into the dynamics of contemporary societies. As a graduate school it offers a multidisciplinary programme for students studying for a PhD in sociology, anthropology and political science.

The African Studies Centre in Leiden and the ASSR signed an agreement of cooperation in 2000 to foster collaborative research in the area of non-Western studies.

CERES – Research School for Resource Studies for Development
ceres.fss.uu.nl

The CERES research school was established by six Dutch academic institutions in 1992 as a coordinating body to develop research in the Netherlands and the training of PhD candidates.

The African Studies Centre in Leiden and CERES signed an agreement of association in 1998 to cooperate in the areas of research coordination and PhD training. ASC researchers contribute to the coordination of the CERES Working Programmes and participate in the annual summer schools organized by CERES.

ASC research is currently contributing to the CERES working programme entitled ‘The management of natural resources, human resources and social insecurity‘.

ASC researchers are collaborating with CERES members in the project entitled ‘Failed inclusion and human rights’.

CNWS – Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies
www.cnws.leidenuniv.nl

The CNWS Research School is a cooperative venture between Leiden University’s Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Law. Senior scholars, who are appointed as members by the CNWS board, encourage junior researchers preparing dissertations and working on interdisciplinary research.

The African Studies Centre in Leiden and CNWS signed an agreement of understanding in March 1992 to cooperate in the areas of joint research, teaching, collection building and publications.

More than half of the ASC’s researchers are currently members of the CNWS and as such, they participate in the CNWS interdisciplinary research clusters and assist in the training of junior researchers.

ASC researchers are currently contributing to the CNWS research cluster entitled: ‘Culture and Development in Africa: Political-Economic Changes and the Dynamics of African Cultures’.

In 2004 the ASC and Leiden University’s Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Social Sciences jointly initiated a new Research Masters in African Studies. The coordination of this new Masters programme will take place in the framework of CNWS cooperation.

CODESRIA – Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
www.codesria.org

The African Studies Centre in Leiden and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa in Dakar (Senegal) entered into a strategic partnership in 2005. The partnership aims to promote understanding and goodwill among scholars in general, and within African Studies in particular, as part of a desire to strengthen scientific ties and to broaden faculty, student and policy-makers’ experiences and horizons.

The partnership has identified the following areas of cooperation:

• research and training projects;
• library, documentation and ICT;
• publications and information dissemination;
• awards for MA and PhD theses in African Studies;
• conferences, symposiums, seminars and workshops; and
• fund-raising for joint activities.

ASC and CODESRIA researchers have been working together in research projects in the past. Both institutions have joined the Consortium Development Partnership (CDP) initiative, which provides yet another framework for cooperation between both centres.

In May 2005, the ASC and CODESRIA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Dakar, Senegal.

KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies
www.kitlv.nl

The KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies at Leiden was founded in 1851. Its objective is the advancement of the study of the anthropology, linguistics, social sciences, and history of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Area, and the Caribbean. Special emphasis is laid on the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

ASC and KITLV jointly set up the Tracking Development research project on the comparative development trajectories of Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa over the last 50 years.

Leiden University
www.leiden.edu

The African Studies Centre in Leiden and Leiden University signed a permanent agreement in 1990 to consolidate the close professional and administrative relationship between both organizations. The agreement covers:

• collaboration in research on Sub-Saharan Africa;
• assigning the African Studies Centre the privilege of being treated as part of the university organization, with due regard for the corporate rights of the ASC Foundation and its interuniversity form of organization; and
• the role of Leiden University as administrative intermediary for allocating the state subsidy to the ASC and the ensuing responsibilities of both institutions.

Research collaboration between both organizations materialized with the partnership between the ASC and the CNWS Research School, established in 1992, with the aim of cooperating in areas of joint research, teaching, collection building and publications.

The ASC library entertains close working relations with Leiden University library and shares automation facilities and collection access privileges. Both libraries are collaborating in the DARC projects and Open Access Leiden.

NVAS
http://www.afrikastudies.nl/nvas-engels.html

The Netherlands African Studies Association was set up in 1997 to provide a scientific forum for Africanists working in the Netherlands. It aims to promote and coordinate the study of the social sciences on Africa by maintaining close links with universities and research institutes. It does not offer an educational programme. It is multidisciplinary in composition, with the following disciplines currently being represented: cultural anthropology, non-western sociology, archaeology, pre- and proto-history, social geography, economics, linguistics, literature, political science, social administration, law, environmental studies, comparative religious studies and women's studies.