News & Events

Mayke Kaag has been named professor by special appointment of the Anthropology of Islam in Africa and its Diaspora at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The chair has been established on behalf of the African Studies Centre Leiden. As a political anthropologist, Mayke Kaag conducts research on contemporary Islam in Africa and the African diaspora from the perspective of Africa's global connections. 

Ethiopia held its parliamentary and regional state council elections on 21 June 2021 under tense conditions of the armed conflict in Tigray Region, threats of instability and insurgent attacks in western parts of the country, and the ongoing health threats due to COVID-19. Despite the current unrest, the electoral process was appreciated by a large majority of the voters and proceeded relatively well, Jon Abbink writes in the ASCL Africanist Blog.

This seminar on 17 September is organised in the framework of 'Africa 2020' and coincides with Bert van Pinxteren's PhD Defence (16 September). In his dissertation, Van Pinxteren shows that maintaining former colonial languages as sole medium of instruction in higher education will become impossible to sustain. Over the next decade, more and more African countries will have to move towards increased use of African languages. Discussion with Maarten Mous, Kwesi Kwaa Prah, Azeb Amha, Mandipa Ndlovu, Akinyinka Akinyoade, and many others.

For the Stephen Ellis Chair for the Governance of Finance and Integrity in Africa, Professor Chibuike Uche, the ASCL is looking for a student assistant (four hours a week, 9-10 months). The duties will include online research and data gathering, questionnaire distribution and collation, library search, data analysis, and taking minutes during meetings. The ideal candidate should be a second or third-year Honours student with excellent academic grades and a genuine interest in Africa. Application deadline: 26 July.

Do socio-economic cleavages shape electoral dynamics in African countries? Individual-level and party systems research since the 1990s has suggested that the answer is "no." Focusing on a number of countries in East and West Africa, this online seminar on 28 October by Prof. Catherine Boone (London School of Economics) will offer a spatial analysis of geographic patterns in constituency-level voting over three decades.

Since the end of June, the hashtag #justicepourlouise has been circulating in Senegal. This is a large effort from the recently established Collectif des féministes du Sénégal to ensure that justice is done for Louise, the pseudonym given to a 15-year-old girl who accused a 19-year-old schoolmate of having raped her. Societal responses to pleas for justice in cases like these show how politicised gender and sexual rights are in Senegal, Loes Oudenhuijsen writes in the ASCL Africanist Blog.

The basilicas in Ethiopia symbolize the history of Christianity in Ethiopia, the most famous being the Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978. This month’s Library Highlight, The basilicas of Ethiopia: an architectural history by architectural historian and architect Mario di Salvo, discusses the unique architectural features of these basilicas and explains how they developed over time. Read the Library Highlight!

On the occasion of the Africa 2020 year, the ASCL created Infosheets about the countries that became independent in 1960. One year later, Sierra Leone was the next in line: on 27 April 1961 it gained political independence from the United Kingdom. Read about the country's recent history, its demographic, social-economic and agricultural developments and regional inequality.

Are you interested in Africa and is your master's thesis on a related subject? If so, the African Studies Centre Leiden is offering you the chance to win € 500,-. Moreover, your thesis will be published in the ASCL's African Studies Collection. Final-year students who have completed their master's thesis at a university in Africa or the Netherlands can apply. The thesis must be based on independent empirical research related to Africa. Deadline for submitting your thesis: 31 August 2021.

Annachiara Raia has been awarded a grant of 50,000 US dollars to digitise the Ustadh Mau Swahili Muslim collection in Lamu, Kenya. The award has been granted by the Modern Endangered Archives Program of the UCLA Library. Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulkadir, locally known as Ustadh Mau, is an eminent poet and imam from Lamu island, Kenya. His private library houses Swahili Muslim manuscript poetry in ajami, booklets and memoirs from the Middle East and India. The digitisation project will enhance open accessibility to an important Islamic heritage hub of Swahili intellectual history and poetic production.