Lectures
The MIASA Public Lecture Series features MIASA fellows in residence. It is primarily directed to researchers and students but is also open to the wider public.
The Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture is organized annually by MIASA at the University of Ghana in collaboration with the Institute of African Studies and the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Ghana. It is named after the 18th century philosopher from present-day Ghana who taught at the universities of Halle and Jena. The lecture series promotes MIASA’s overarching commitment of making African thinking increasingly relevant in global academia, and it addresses questions of how the humanities and social sciences can contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge production and epistemic justice.
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Public Lecture: Between (and beyond) Aisha Huang and Stonebwoy: Towards Understanding Non-State Actors and Chinese Environmental Footprints in Ghana; Speaker: Abdul-Gafar Oshodi
MIASA Seminar Room & via Zoom Abstract: There has been renewed interest in Africa-China relations in the last twenty years – and among the areas that have attracted some attention in academic literature and popular media is Chinese environmental footprint in Africa. Although existing literature on this subset of Africa-China relations appears to predominantly overlook ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Sino-African Urbanism: Chinese Architecture of Capital and the Mercantilist Spirit in the City of Douala; Speaker: Basile Ndjio
MIASA Seminar room Abstract In more general, this paper which is based on field investigation conducted in the city of Douala in Cameroon between 2014 and 2021, aims to extend scholarly discussions on transnational urbanism and architectural innovations. It does so through a detailed empirical examination of newly emerged Chinese architectural imaginations, styles and practices ... Read more
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Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture 2022: Decolonizing Knowledge Production in Africa; Invited Speaker: Sylvia Tamale (Makerere University)
Great Hall, University of Ghana The world lives with the falsehood that on planet earth, there is one universal correct way of being human, i.e., the Western way of thinking, of being and of doing, which is constructed as a one-size-fits-all model, the “default drive” for the entire world. The lecture focuses on some of ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Maintaining order in everyday life: Sociology of identity control at roadblocks in Chad; Speaker: Kelma Manatouma
MIASA Conference Room, 15th November 2022 Abstract "Present your identity document !", "Wen identité hanak", "pièce identité" These expressions, in Chadian Arabic or French, are familiar to anyone who is used to taking public transport, coaches from travel companies that have been growing rapidly over the last ten years, to travel to the South or ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Creative Cities in African Contexts: Approaches and Perceptions; Speaker: Dr. Jenny Mbaye
Abstract: This lecture explores the relationship between arts, culture and creativity and urban policy and governance. Focusing on African contexts, it discusses processes of the cultural polis (Mbaye & Dinardi, 2019) with an attention to alternative institution-building (Kouoh, 2012) and people as infrastructure (Simone, 2004) situated at the intersection of creative ecosystems and production, citizens’ ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Restitution and Museums: Some Emerging Issues; Speakers: Kodzo Gavua & Hans Peter Hahn
Abstract The urgency, the ethical necessity and the political procedures of restitution are now widely known and recognised. In many African countries, initial experiences have already been made and some more far-reaching aspects are currently being intensively discussed. As we will show in this lecture, it is crucial not to limit the perspective on restitution ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Women as public transport providers; Speaker: Prof. Eyo Mensah
Abstract The public transport sector in Nigeria has often been stereotyped as a male-dominated industry. Over the years, the upsurge in unemployment rate and the necessity of economic empowerment have pushed women to adopt commercial tricycle riding as a means of livelihood. In this public lecture, I interrogate the perception of women as tricycle riders ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Cultural intermediation and the mediation of culture: The issue of cultural hegemonies in social gatherings; Speaker: Dr. Laure Carbonnel
MIASA Conference Room, 18th April 2023 Abstract: Different people, groups, social worlds, and experiences, even when opposed, may be connectedin cultural centres, art schools , on musical platforms or at dance gatherings. They are places ofsociability where people meet, share and discover, but are also places where certain social imagery, habits, andworld views, impose themselves ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Mapping Rubondo Island: Knowledge and Ignorance in the Construction of ‘Natural Space’ in Interlacustrine Africa since 1875; Speaker: Felix Schürmann
Abstract: National parks and other nature reserves are not remnants of »untouched wilderness« somewhere outside civilisation. In general, they have been transformed into ostensibly authentic natural spaces by persons and institutions who considered nature as to be protected. Media play an important role in such transformations. Using the case of Rubondo, the oldest and largest ... Read more
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Conference: Increasing Women’s Political Presence in West Africa
Organizers: Interdisciplinary Fellow Group on "Increasing Women's Political Presence in West Africa" (IFG 8) Keynote address by Ayisha Osori (Open Society Foundation) on Women’s Political Power in West Africa and the Global Context of Democracy and its Discontents: The Nigeria Case Programm Abstract: In Africa, significant regional disparities in women’s presence in political office exist, with West Africa ... Read more
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Public Lecture: The People’s “Calls” and “Counter-calls” For Paul Biya’s Candidature: Pre-election Confrontation, Hegemonic Tensions and the Struggle for Political Change in Cameroon; Speaker: Dr. Jean-Marcellin Manga Lebongo
Abstract: This paper questions the “calls” and “counter-calls” for Paul Biya’s candidature as a means to participate in political life. The calls for the candidature of the incumbent President show the construction of political allegiances that underlie various clientelist negotiations initiated by political leaders to maintain their hegemonic positions. However, the counter-calls highlight how, through ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Responsibilizing parents to overcome blindness: Changing intergenerational relations through education for all in Northern Benin; Speaker: Prof. Erdmute Alber
Abstract: The lecture traces how the large Education for All campaigns transformed parental responsibilities, not only in terms ofthe costs of enrolment and the maintenance of schools, but also in terms of other changes in children’s life courses, whichare related to their schooling trajectories under difficult conditions. Alongside parental responsibilities for schooling, responsibilities for marriage, ... Read more
