African Studies Centre Leiden

20/12/2024

🔔🔔 Exciting opportunity for aspiring researchers! 🔔🔔
The ASCL is announcing an open candidate position for the GROW research programme!
Are you passionate about addressing pressing societal challenges through research, such as , the , accessible and affordable global , political stability and , access to and sustainable ? Do you have a keen interest in the relationship between and and would you like to do research into the highly interdisciplinary (socio-legal, political, administrative and sociological/anthropological) field of legal pluralism in Africa? If so, this opportunity might be perfect for you! All information 👇
https://ascleiden.nl/news/grow-research-programme-position-open-phd-candidate

10/12/2024

👏 Congratulations to Liévain Mwangal, who successfully defended his dissertation 'Musumb et ses empereurs face aux puissances coloniales (XVIIe-XXe siècle): un laboratoire historique des villes et des pouvoirs en Afrique centrale' today! Musumb was a pre-colonial city and capital of the former Lunda Empire in Central Africa. With the thesis Liévain focused on Musumb through the reigns of different emperors who succeeded to the throne during the pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial period.

👏 Félicitations à Liévain Mwangal, qui a soutenu aujourd'hui avec succès sa thèse 'Musumb et ses empereurs face aux puissances coloniales (XVIIe-XXe siècle) : un laboratoire historique des villes et des pouvoirs en Afrique centrale'! Musumb était une ville précoloniale et capitale de l'ancien empire Lunda en Afrique centrale. Avec sa thèse, Liévain s'est concentré sur Musumb à travers les règnes des différents empereurs qui ont accédé au trône au cours de la période précoloniale, coloniale et postcoloniale.

05/12/2024

What an insightful afternoon at the ASCL yesterday! We had the honor of hosting Koert Lindijer, well-known correspondent and author specialising in African affairs, who delivered a compelling Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture on the issues facing African governance today.
Reflections on the lecture were provided by Jelte van Wieren, director for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mandipa Ndlovu and Dr. Rahmane Idrissa (both ASCL), offering diverse perspectives and enriching the discussion.
Stay tuned for more insightful events and discussions at ASCL!

03/12/2024

📢 As a warm-up to the Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture by Koert Lindijer tomorrow, the African Library has compiled a web dossier consisting of a recent books 📚 related to its theme 'Africa in the World Today'. It also lists books by Stephen Ellis and Koert Lindijer 👇🏾
https://ascleiden.nl/content/webdossiers/season-rains-africa-world-today

22/11/2024

🎉 Congrats to Rachel Dubale, alumna of the Research Master African Studies at Leiden University, who received the Africa Thesis Award 2023 🏆 yesterday! Her thesis focuses on the population of urban slums in Addis Ababa who were relocated to newly built condominium units; what impact does such a relocation have on the inhabitants? The thesis stood out for its societal relevance, jury member Mandipa Ndlovu said. On the photo: Rachel seen below with jury members Mandipa Ndlovu and Marnix de Bruyne, and Azeb Amha of the ASCL.

07/11/2024

📢📢 The Dutch government announced budget cuts that will severely affect the social sciences and humanities in the Netherlands. In this blog, we highlight the pivotal role of 🌍 African Studies for Dutch society and education, and beyond 👇🏾👇🏾
https://ascleiden.nl/content/ascl-blogs/african-studies-vibrant-and-we-need-future-generations-pass-baton
Universiteit Leiden / Leiden University Leiden University - Faculty of Humanities Leiden University - Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs MA International Studies Leiden LeidenGlobal Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University

29/10/2024

📣 For the special occasion of the 10th Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture, this year’s lecture will be delivered by Koert Lindijer! Based on his experience of 40 years of reporting from Africa, Lindijer, Africa correspondent for the Dutch journalist platforms NRC and NOS, will reflect on the issues facing African governance today. Join us on 4 December! More information and registration 👇🏾 https://www.ascleiden.nl/news/10th-stephen-ellis-annual-lecture-season-rains-africa-world-today-koert-lindijer
📆: 4 December
⏱: 16:00-18.00 CET
📍 : Pieter de la Court Building, Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden
Universiteit Leiden / Leiden University LeidenGloball Leiden University - Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Leiden University Leiden University - Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs ZAM Magazine Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University Zuid-Afrikahuis

24/10/2024

📣 Today 60 years ago Northern Rhodesia became independent as . Read about the country's history, demographic and social-economic developments over the past 60 years in our latest Infosheet. It is the final Infosheet in the series about African countries that became independent in the 1960s! Authored by Dietz Ton and David Ehrhardt. 👇🏾
https://ascleiden.nl/news/zambia-60

14/10/2024

📣 Are you thinking about doing a master's degree 👩‍🎓 and are you interested in Africa 🌍? Join us for the presentations on African Studies during the Master's Online Open Day on 17 October! Sessions on the one-year African Studies master as well as the two-year African Studies research master will be given. All info and registration 👇🏾https://ascleiden.nl/news/open-online-masters-day-find-out-more-about-african-studies
📆: 17 October
⏱: 13:00-13.45 CET
📍 Online

Leiden University - Faculty of Humanities LeidenGlobal Nederlandse Vereniging voor Afrika Studies Nederland en Afrika Zuid-Afrikahuis Leiden University - Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

13/10/2024

African Art & Music Festival 🎶🎵20 October in Wereldmuseum Leiden 👇🏾

De tentoonstelling In Schitterend Licht loopt ten einde en we sluiten in stijl af op 20 oktober.

11/10/2024

On 8 October the Herta Mohr Building, the new home 🏠of the ASCL, was opened! After the official speeches🎙 and drum performances 🥁, presentations took place in the lecture rooms of the various world 🌍 institutions that are gathered in this part of the Humanities Campus. Jos Damen, head of the African Library, received a sculpture from our Research Master student Panashe Madamombe, which he had commissioned especially for the ASCL during his fieldwork in Zimbabwe (thank you Panashe! 🙏🏾). Researcher Lidewyde Berckmoes and photographer Marieke Maagdenberg launched their inspiring book and the accompanying photo exhibition, sharing precious stories about and the aftermath of conflict through photography 📷. Thank you for all those who were present, and let's be inspired by Herta Mohr, the young Leiden Egyptologist who persevered with her research during World War II but sadly died far too young in Bergen-Belsen early 1945. She is the namesake of the first Leiden University building with a woman's name.
Universiteit Leiden / Leiden University Leiden University - Faculty of Humanities LeidenGlobal Lidewyde Berckmoes UBLeiden

08/10/2024

🛎🛎 Vacature! 🛎🛎
Het Afrika-Studiecentrum Leiden van de Universiteit Leiden / Leiden University heeft een voor een Hoofd afdeling , en (BDI) voor 5 dagen per week. Als hoofd van de afdeling BDI versterk je de verbondenheid tussen de , het en het van het ASCL. Deadline: 4 november! Meer info 👇🏾
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/vacatures/2024/q4/15184-hoofd-afdeling-bibliotheek-documentatie-en-informatie-bdi

UBLeiden LeidenGlobal Leiden University - Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Leiden University Leiden University - Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Bij het Afrika-Studiecentrum Leiden (ASCL), Universiteit Leiden, is een vacature voor Hoofd afdeling Bibliotheek, Documentatie en Informatie (BDI)voor 5 dagen per week De functieAls hoofd van de afdeling BDI versterk je de verbondenheid tussen de collectie, het onderzoek en het onderwijs van het ASC...

01/10/2024

🔔 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚

Contemporary migration is characterised by a mobility paradox. The increased reach and accessibility of communication 📱, media 📺 and transport technologies 🛫 mean that people in many parts of the world are exposed to visions of the good life and future elsewhere, while restrictive mobility regimes make access to the global circuits of legal mobility increasingly difficult. How do migrants respond to this situation and imagine their mobility, life and future? 🏡

In this lecture, Dr Nauja Kleist (DIIS - Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier) argues that hope constitutes a productive analytical framework for studies of migration in the light of this mobility paradox, examined through a case study of involuntary return to Ghana.

📆 Thursday 10 October
🕓 16:00 - 17:30 hrs. CET
📍 Herta Mohr building, room 0.31 (or online via Zoom 💻)

Info and registration: https://www.ascleiden.nl/news/ascl-seminar-hope-and-uncertainty-african-migration-case-study-involuntary-return-ghana

23/09/2024

Our 2023 Annual Report is out! Read everything about our publications 🖋, exciting new research 🔎, collaborations with African Studies colleagues across the world, our library achievements 📚, and much more!
Check it out here 👉🏾 https://ascleiden.nl/news/ascl-annual-report-2023

12/09/2024

❗️ Two PhD positions on mining history in southern Africa ⛏💎🇿🇦 🇿🇲 🇳🇦

The African Studies Centre Leiden is looking for two PhD candidates (1.0 fte) for the NWO project “Boom to Dust: The Environmental History of Three Industrial Mining Centres in Southern Africa, 1870-2020”.

This research project is funded by an NWO Open Competition Grant, and is led by Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald and hosted by the African Studies Centre Leiden.

There are three industrial mining centres in southern Africa that once stood at the forefront of imperial expansion; Kimberley (South Africa), Kabwe (Zambia), and Tsumeb (Namibia). Once they promised modernity, progress and economic development, but now they are bedevilled by the toxic legacy of economic collapse, societal upheaval and environmental ruin. “Boom to Dust” will research and write the post-humanist multi-species environmental histories of these three industrial mining centres between 1870 and 2020.

Given the fact that mineral extraction, once heralded as the epitome of progress, lies at the root of the Climate Crisis in the Anthropocene, yet is touted as essential for the “Green Revolution”, the time has come for a more critical approach to answer the question, what was the environmental impact of the industrial mining revolution that transformed southern Africa? Specifically, what was the impact of industrial mining when viewed from a more than human multi-species perspective? Succinctly, how did industrial mining transform the living space of plants and animals (including humans) in specific mining towns. The project will investigate the environmental history of three industrial mining centres in southern Africa.

More info and the applications: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/vacatures/2024/q3/15111-two-phd-candidates-1.0-fte-for-the-nwo-project-boom-to-dust

10/09/2024

ASCL senior researcher Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald receives an NWO Open Competition grant to conduct research on mining history in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia.

The project, entitled “Boom to Dust: The Environmental History of Three Industrial Mining Centres in Southern Africa, 1870-2020” ⛏ will investigate the environmental history of three industrial mining centres in southern Africa. Through a comparative study, “Boom to Dust” will describe and analyse the long-term impact of mining in southern Africa on more than humans alone.

“Boom to Dust” is a historical project that draws heavily upon other disciplines, anthropology in particular. Research on each of the three sites will begin with an extensive literature review 📚 , including the relevant biological, geological and geographical material. To be followed by field research, and research in public and private archives in Europe and Africa. The PI and two PhDs will each carry out research in their respective sites in stretches of 3, 12 and 1 month. This will allow researchers to work through local archives, interact with informants, and “walk the land”, to gain insight into the multi-species history of the mining sites. Fieldwork will coincide with three workshops to be held in each of the field sites, this will facilitate the exchange of findings and allow the researchers to visit one another’s fieldwork sites.

More info: https://ascleiden.nl/news/jan-bart-gewald-receives-nwo-open-competition-grant

05/09/2024

📣 Just announced: ASCL Seminar on urban transitions in the Global South 🌍

🗓️ Thursday 21 November
🕓 16:00 hrs. CET
📍 HMO, room 0.31 (or online via Zoom 💻)

Speaker: Prof. Shuaib Lwasa ( ).

International development mechanisms determine and dominate approaches to urban development 🌁. This is through well validated methods of designing, planning, financing and building cities for advancement and prosperity. The dominant approach has for long created path-dependent systems where ‘cities’ are seen as networked, centralised systems as growth poles with a trickled down effect on rural areas. But the pace of urban development has not matched the need leading in its trail a host of challenges including; deficits in capital investments 💲, operational costs and inequities.

What is rarely seen are the ingenious innovations that offer alternative development approaches in urban spaces. The potential and expandable solutions could enhance equity, address climate change 🍃, create sustainable cities and build resilient urban systems. This presentation by Prof. Shuaib Lwasa (Erasmus University Rotterdam) will explore some of the levers for harnessing these opportunities.

More info and registration via the bio link 🔗.

02/09/2024

🔔 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 🌍 , 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 🇨🇳 , 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬

The ERC 'China Africa Fashion Power Team' is delighted to announce its upcoming international workshop 'Fashion, Beauty & Creativity Unbound - China, Africa and the multiple souths'.

The full programme details and Zoom link will be sent to the registered participants a week before the event.

📅 Thursday 26 September
🕤 09:30 - 17:30 hrs. EAT / 08:30–16:30 hrs. CEST
📍 Nairobi Garage Spring Valley, Nairobi, Kenya 🇰🇪 (or online via Zoom 💻)

More info: https://www.ascleiden.nl/news/workshop-fashion-beauty-creativity-unbound-china-africa-and-multiple-souths