News & Events

Slam poetry, which combines poetry and performance, is gaining increasing momentum among Africa’s youth as a means of expressing opinions and emotions. In particular, the library’s French-language literature section has seen interesting additions in recent months.

Twenty-five special items from the ASCL Library collection were on display during the ASCL's 75th anniversary celebration on 8 September. They gave an impression of the richness of the collection over the past 75 years. 

This book is based on Tamia Botes's Master's thesis 'Where Have the Midwives Gone? Everyday Histories of Voetvroue in Johannesburg', for which she received the 2021 Africa Thesis Award. The 'voetvrou' is a black autonomous midwife who looks after the health of and nurtures new life in her community in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg.

Master and Research Master students of African Studies, as well as students of the LDE minors African Dynamics and Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development for the new academic year have started. In the first week of September they got familiar with the programmes and attended their first lectures.

On 17 September 1979, South African-Canadian film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator Neill Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg. Blomkamp employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated effects. Read the Library Weekly!

The ASCL celebrated its 75th anniversary on 8 September in Museum Volkenkunde. We look back on a festive and interesting day with many partners. Take a look at the photos and read the report!

The Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture will be given by Megan Vaughan, Professor of African History and Health at University College London. There are multiple stories to be told about the course and impact of COVID-19 in Africa. Prof. Vaughan will examine the impact of global actions, inactions and inequalities.

Algemeen Dagblad interviewde Jan Abbink en Chibuike Uche over 75 jaar Afrika-Studiecentrum, de rol van handel tussen Afrikaanse landen en Nederland - in 1947 en nu -, en de maatschappelijke betekenis van het Afrika-Studiecentrum.

On 5 September 2010, South African writer, university teacher and journalist Lewis Nkosi died in Johannesburg at the age of 73. He spent 30 years in exile as a consequence of restrictions placed on him and his writing by the Suppression of Communism Act and the Publications and Entertainment Act passed in the 1950s and 1960s. Read the Library Weekly!

The African Studies Centre Leiden is sad to report that Jan Hoorweg passed away in his home in Leiderdorp on 3 August 2022. Jan started to work as a social psychologist at the African Studies Centre in 1967. He continued to work at the ASC up to 2014, ten years after his official retirement.