News & Events

Ton Dietz will retire as the director of the African Studies Centre Leiden on 1 September 2017. On this occasion, we did a ‘farewell’ interview with him. Ton shares his thoughts on migration: 'We fool ourselves in a very dangerous way if we think that supporting economic growth (...) will curb migration. It’s the other way round.' And: 'Not preparing the Dutch or European population of what is to come, is foolish and politically dangerous.' Read the full interview.

The 11th meeting of European Librarians in African Studies was held in Basel on 28 June, the day before the 7th European Conference on African Studies started. The ELIAS meeting was organised by Susanne Hubler-Baier of Basler Afrika Bibliographien, together with colleagues from Basel University Library. A delegation from the Korea-Africa Centre in Seoul and the new African Studies Librarian from Michigan State University attended. Jos Damen of the ASCL Library reports.

Homegoing is the debut historical fiction novel by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana, 1989) and currently a favourite among those interested in the slave trade. The tale begins in the late 18th century in an Asante village, part of the Gold Coast which eventually became Ghana. Each chapter follows a different descendant of an Asante woman: daughter Effia marries the British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister Esi is held captive in the dungeons. Homegoing is the subject of our latest Library Highlight!

After last year’s successful edition, Voice4Thought is back with the third edition of its annual festival V4T @Leiden. The festival brings together voices from the fields of arts, education, activism and the academic world from Cameroon, Chad, Senegal and the Netherlands. This year’s central theme: Digital Radicalization. Take a look at the full programme!

The African Studies Centre Leiden's Annual Report for 2016 is out now! In addition to an excellent list of publications by our researchers, you will find other highlights such as the African Arts and Literatures Today series, the Voice4Thought Festival, the Africa Works conference and the Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture by Professor Muna Ndulo of Cornell University.

The 7th European Conference on African Studies that took place in Basel from 28 June until 2 July 2017 was a huge success with more than 200 panels and up to1600 attendants. This year's theme was Urban Africa - Urban Africans: New Encounters of the Rural and the Urban. Many ASCL researchers organized a panel, presented a paper or launched a new book. Mirjam de Bruijn gave a keynote lecture on Digitalisation and the Field of African Studies. Take a look at the photo impression!