News & Events

How can the development of mega-projects and large-scale infrastructure help us understand the emergence of new forms of governance as well as changing ideas and practices related to citizenship across Africa? In recent years, governments from Morocco to Nigeria, and from Kenya to Cameroon have embarked on a series of ambitious billion-euro projects to overhaul their countries’ urban infrastructure on an unprecedented scale. With the help of global as well as regional investors and foreign technical experts, a host of spectacular ‘mega-projects’ aims to radically transform natural, economic, and social landscapes. This workshop brings together colleagues working in different national contexts across the African continent to reflect together on the common challenges and divergent approaches to such accelerating phenomena.

In less than a hundred days, more than 800,000 Rwandese people were murdered in a deliberate and well-organized act of genocide, 25 years ago. How did the genocide come to be and why did it happen? Could it have been prevented if the international community had done more? This seminar at the The Hague Campus will address these and other questions. Speakers: Bert Ingelaere and Filip Reyntjens, University of Antwerp.

On the occasion of the NVAS Africa Day 2019 on 16 March in Utrecht, the ASCL Library has compiled a web dossier about “Performing arts in West Africa”. It focuses on theatre, dance and hiphop in West Africa and contains titles from the ASCL Library catalogue. Check out the web dossier!

Hogbetsotso is an annual festival of the Aŋlɔ (Anlo) Ewe of Southeastern Ghana. It is celebrated to commemorate the migration of the Aŋlɔ and other Ewe to their present home. In this talk, using the SPEAKING framework of Ethnography of Communication (Hymes 1962, Saville-Troike 2003), the speaker will present an analysis of a segment of the festival known as nugbuidódó, “reconciliation”. He will explore the norms and values embodied in the act sequences that characterise this speech event.

Are you exploring your options for a master’s programme, and are you interested in Africa? Join us for the presentations on African Studies during the Master's Open Day on 15 March at Leiden University. Presentations on the African Studies master's as well as the research master's programme will be given, and the differences between the two courses will be clarified.