Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture 2023: Building African Ecologies of Knowledge; Invited Speaker: Professor Felwine Sarr (Duke University Durham)
The Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture is organized annually by the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) 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. ... Read more
Public Roundtable: Addressing asymmetries in academic knowledge production on Africa: Potentials and Pitfalls
Abstract Although African scholars have challenged asymmetries in academic knowledge production on Africa for centuries, epistemic injustices resulting from colonial structures of power persist. One of the visible consequences is the underrepresentation of Global South scholars in leading journals. While this issue has long been known, measures taken by journals to address it have been ... Read more
MIASA Publishing Workshop 2023
The MIASA Publishing Workshop for African scholars, jointly organised by Africa Spectrum (published by the GIGA Institute for African Affairs) and the Contemporary Journal of African Studies (published by the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana), will take place on 14 and 15 December 2023 at the University of Ghana in Legon-Accra. ... Read more
Public Lecture: The Nomadic Mbororo-Fulani Conundrum in Cameroon’s North West Region: From Fry Pan to Fire; Speaker: Nicodemus Fru Awasom
MIASA Conference Room, 13th February 2024 Abstract: This paper examines the intractable perennial problem of the nomadic Mbororo-Fulani in Cameroon’s Northwest region. The problem that has not been sufficiently historicized and comprehensively studied by scholars to shed light on its changing scenarios, and to connect it to its African parallels in order to better articulate ... Read more
Public Lecture: Critical Heritage. Reflections on the Brandenburg Forts on Ghana’s Coast; Speaker: Sarah Dornhof
MIASA Conference Room, 5th March 2024 Abstract This presentation considers European forts and trading posts on Ghana’s coast from a critical heritage perspective and in the context of artistic approaches. The focus is on the Brandenburg sites in the Western Region, Fort Gross Friedrichsburg and the ruins of the Dorothea trading post (Dorothenschanze), two sites ... Read more
Public Lecture: Mapping Ghana: European Geologists as Agents of Change and New Sociality in the Cold War; Speaker: Justyna Turkowska
MIASA Conference Room, 2nd April, 2024 Abstract From the late 1950s onwards, European geologists were widely dispatched to the "Global South" to survey the newly independent countries and forge new political-economic alliances. While deployed in West Africa, they became agents of a new spatial reorganisation of the respective countries and their symbolic and imagined place ... Read more
Public Lecture: On the motivation and motives of people of African descent to follow the return campaign of the Ghanaian government; Speaker: Isabelle Ihring
MIASA Conference Room, 9th April, 2024 Abstract: In 2019, the Ghanaian government proclaimed the Year of Return, targeting people of African descent in the diaspora. According to the homepage “2019 was declared “the year of return” and the start of a campaign to encourage descendants of enslaved Africans to re-connect with the land of their ... Read more
MIASA Writing Workshop on Governance, Democracy and Green Energy
Yiri Lodge, UG, 22 - 26 April 2024 The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) seeks to provide Africa-based early career researchers working on the themes of governance, democracy and green energy on the continent with the space and intellectual community to transform a draft paper into a publishable journal piece. The 5-day ... Read more
Public Lecture: Harmony in Urban Chaos: Balancing Development and Conservation in Kano’s Evolving Landscape, 1964-2023; Speaker: Nadir A. Nasidi
This lecture is open to the public. For virtual participation via Zoom, please use the following link: https://uni-freiburg.zoom-x.de/j/64175028842?pwd=aFppTTZkYjNQSjcvaXkrUzVGTGNyUT09 Meeting-ID: 641 7502 8842Code: k3dWVZr5Z Abstract This paper explores the interplay between urbanisation, cultural preservation, and sustainable development in the Nigerian city of Kano. As the city is one of the fast-growing urban centres in Africa with ... Read more
Public Lecture: Shea and Other Parklands–Approaching the Historical Ecology of West African Domesticated Landscapes; Speaker: Alexa Höhn (Goethe University Frankfurt)
Abstract: In discussions about reforestation, biodiversity and climate change mitigation, the landscapes of the West African Sudanian Savanna Biome are sometimes not seen for what they are: Domesticated Landscapes, where humans have been transforming the environment into a productive landscape for more than a millennium. In particular, the management of useful non-domesticated trees in farms characterizes traditional ... Read more
Public Lecture: Plant health as a colonial conquest from the 1880s to the 1930s: a global history of knowledge; Speaker: Alina Marktanner (RWTH Aachen University)
Venue: MIASA Seminar Room Abstract: Around 1900, plant protection was a problem for science, business and administration. Biologically oriented subjects such as botany, zoology, entomology and mycology made plant health and its preservation as well as plant diseases and their prevention and cure the subject of investigation and fought trench warfare over disciplinary responsibilities. Lines ... Read more
Conference: Urban transformation pathways, sustainable governance, and urban resilience building
Abstracts Rapid urbanization in Ghana characterised by increasing infrastructure projects like highways, paved surfaces and housing has led to considerable loss of natural green spaces and agricultural lands. As a result, urban systems are severely affected by climate change contributing to frequent flooding, and rising temperatures leading to low quality of life. Unfortunately, most urban ... Read more
