The African Studies Centre Leiden is very sad to report that in the morning of 28 March Dr Harrie Leyten passed away, 87 years of age. With his demise we lose a dear friend and an Africanist who has inspired countless people about Africa, its peoples and its art. Harrie defended his PhD in 2015. Read the 'In Memoriam' written by his friend and former promotor Wouter van Beek.

Registration for the two Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) minors that the ASCL co-organises will open on 3 April! It concerns the minor African Dynamics and the minor Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development. The minors are accessible for third-year bachelor students from the three universities.

Studium Generale en het ASCL bieden in april en mei lezingen aan die inzicht geven in ontwikkelingen in Afrika. Thema's zijn o.a. migratie, de diversiteit van de islam, Afrikaanse talen en literatuur, de mogelijke relatie tussen diamantwinning en het uitsterven van soorten, en de link tussen Afrika en Noord-Korea.

The African Studies Centre Leiden is deeply saddened by the news that its former colleague and board member of the Netherlands Association of African Studies (NVAS) Karin Willemse passed away in Leiden on 18 March 2023. Karin was a driving force in propagating African Studies in the Netherlands. 

Indy Koster, student of the Research Master African Studies, collaborates with REEFolution for her thesis research. This NGO in Shimoni, a coastal village in south eastern Kenya, aims to restore the degraded coral reefs. Indy collects data both under water, to analyse the condition of the reef, and on land, interviewing female stakeholders.

Robert Okello (Development Studies, International Institute of Social Studies) is the winner of the Africa Thesis Award 2022. He wrote his thesis on the legal empowerment of rural women through digital technology in Northern Uganda. His thesis was partly inspired by the experiences of his mother with the Ugandan legal system.