Permalink Submitted by Jan-Bart Gewald on 12 September 2025
Organization/ affiliation:
Leiden University/Stellenbosch University
Having taught in this ResMa I can only applaud the students that taught me so very much about Africa and the world as a whole. That a course as productive as the ResMa African Studies should be cut is a shame, and one that will be deeply regretted in the future. If ever there was a time to seriously study and understand Africa and its peoples, that time is now. Africa, as a continent, will continue to grow in importance in the coming 80 years. The ResMa African Studies produced a generation of truly brilliant academics who have a deep and dedicated understanding of many different aspects of many different African societies; this is a resource that will now be terminated, not for reasons of academic excellence, but for bean-counting. Education requires funding and dedication, without it we will be left with stereotypes and generalities, hardly the stuff that we need to build the future.
Having taught in this ResMa I can only applaud the students that taught me so very much about Africa and the world as a whole. That a course as productive as the ResMa African Studies should be cut is a shame, and one that will be deeply regretted in the future. If ever there was a time to seriously study and understand Africa and its peoples, that time is now. Africa, as a continent, will continue to grow in importance in the coming 80 years. The ResMa African Studies produced a generation of truly brilliant academics who have a deep and dedicated understanding of many different aspects of many different African societies; this is a resource that will now be terminated, not for reasons of academic excellence, but for bean-counting. Education requires funding and dedication, without it we will be left with stereotypes and generalities, hardly the stuff that we need to build the future.