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LUCAS joins AEGIS
Leeds University Centre for African Studies has recently been accepted as a member of the Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies (AEGIS), a research network of European studies centres which aims to create synergies between experts and institutions. With primary emphasis on Social Sciences and Humanities, AEGIS’ main goal is to improve understanding about contemporary African societies. It is excellent news for LUCAS that we are now part of this network and we look forward to being able to help contribute to developing AEGIS’ important work.
New Lecturer in African Studies post at LUCAS
LUCAS are currently looking to hire a new Lecturer in African Studies (three years, fixed term post- ref AHCFO1010) – if you think this could be you please see here for more details on how to apply and feel free to contact LUCAS director Dr. Shane Doyle (School of History) if you have any queries arising. The closing date for applications is Monday 10 July 2017.
YASN Conference – Migration and Transition – Roots and Routes
The next Yorkshire African Studies Network conference will be on ‘Migration and Transition – Roots and Routes’ and will take place at the University of Hull, on 18th and 19th May 2017 – for the programme and more details on registration please see here
Upcoming Finding Africa seminars
The African Feminisms series continues with discussions of ‘Mossane (Safi Faye, 1997) and Djanta (Tahirou Tassere Ouedraogo, 2006): Intersections of Feminism with Ethnic Identity’ by Monika Kukolova on Thursday 9 March, 5pm, Leeds Humanities Research Institute Seminar Room 1 and then Elinor Rooks on ‘Bessie’s Head’s Radical Visions of Sex and Gender’ on Thursday 23 March 5pm, also at LHRI seminar room 1. For the full series please see the Finding Africa website.
Ayobami Adebayo in Conversation – #StayWithMe
Leeds University Centre for African Studies and Blackwells Leeds are delighted to be hosting Ayobami Adebayo, whose debut novel about Nigeria, Stay With Me, has just been published and already been longlisted for the Baileys Prize. We would like to invite you to a conversation with this new literary star on Monday 13 March 2017 in the Business School Maurice Keyworth Lecture Theatre (Room G.02), University of Leeds from 6pm-8pm – for more details please see here.
Leeds African Studies Bulletin 78 now online
The latest issue of the Leeds African Studies Bulletin #78 is now out and online – with wide-ranging articles on Theatre for Development in Malawi, the Calabash in Yoruba society, women’s experience on social media in post-revolutionary Tunisia and a discussion of Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. There is also a special section relating to Leeds, Africa and Black History in the city. You can download the entire issue as a PDF from the bottom of this page. We welcome contributions for the next volume, for more information or if you have ideas for submissions please get in touch – the deadline for articles for volume No. 79 is 1 October 2017.
Finding Africa seminar on Abortion and Southern African Women’s Writing
The next seminar in the African Feminisms series will be ‘The Birth of ‘New’ Materialism? Abortion and Southern African Women’s Writing’ with Caitlin Stobie, on Monday 27 February, 5pm, Leeds Humanities Research Institute Seminar Room 1 – for more details and an abstract please see here.
Leeds Premier of C.L.R. James documentary Every Cook Can Govern
The Leeds premier of the film documentary Every Cook Can Govern: The life works & impact of C.L.R. James is being shown as part of the ‘Conversations in Black History’ seminar series. There will be a Q&A after the film with Ceri Dingle (director), Dr Arthur France MBE, founder of the Leeds West Indian Carnival and Dr Christian Høgsbjerg, author of C.L.R. James in Imperial Britain – Wednesday 1 March, 6.15pm, Leeds West Indian Centre, 10 Laycock Place, Chapeltown – for more info please see here
Finding Africa seminar on Stiwanism and Gendered Identities in Jinja (Uganda)
Finding Africa are pleased to announce that Professor Jane Plastow will open their next set of on the theme of African Feminisms with a paper co-authored with Katie McQuaid on Stiwanism and Gendered Identities in Jinja (Uganda). The seminar will take place on Monday 13 February 2017 at the Leeds Humanities Research (LHRI) Institute Seminar Room at 5pm. All are welcome and entrance is free – for more details and the abstract see here.
LUCAS Annual Lecture with Professor Nic Cheeseman
We are delighted to announce that Professor Nic Cheeseman (University of Birmingham), author of Democracy in Africa (2015), will give the 2016-17 LUCAS Annual Lecture. The title of the lecture is ‘Elections and Political Change in Africa: The Case of Kenya 2017’ and will take place on Thursday 16 March 2017, 4.30pm, Clothworkers South Building Lecture Theatre 2. For more information on the event, which is free and open to all, and Professor Cheeseman’s work please see here
Truth for Giulio, Justice for Egypt’s Disappeared
LUCAS are proud to be joining with Leeds University and College’s Union (UCU) and Amnesty to sponsor an Egypt Solidarity Initiative event to campaign for truth for Giulio Regeni in Leeds, on Wednesday 22 March, 1 – 2.30pm, Roger Stevens Building, Lecture Theatre 1, University of Leeds. Speakers: Shane Enright (Amnesty UK’s trade union campaigner), Professor Ray Bush (University of Leeds) – for more info please see here
Jörg Wiegratz on Neoliberal Moral Economy in Uganda
On Tuesday 28 February, at 4.30pm in LG 19 (Michael Sadler Building), there will be Book launch and LUCAS Seminar with Jörg Wiegratz (Lecturer in Political Economy of Global Development at the University of Leeds) talking about his new book Neoliberal Moral Economy: Capitalism, Socio-Cultural Change and Fraud in Uganda – for more details please see here.
Conversations in Black History – Remembering Christopher and David
LUCAS is supporting a new series in conjunction with Leeds West Indian Centre Charitable Trust and the School of History at the University of Leeds, ‘Conversations in Black History’, and its inaugural event is ‘Remembering Christopher and David: Justice and Police Brutality in Yorkshire’, with campaigner Janet Alder and the Remember David Oluwale Campaign. It takes place on Wednesday 1 February, at 6pm, Leeds West Indian Centre – all welcome – for more details please see here.
Research seminar with Professor Rijk van Dijk
Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) and the Centre for Religion and Public Life (CRPL) are organising a joint research seminar on Tuesday 7 February, 5pm (venue: Baines Wing SR 1.13) with Professor Rijk van Dijk (ASCL, Leiden University/ AISSR, Univ. of Amsterdam/ Centre of Excellence, Univ. of Konstanz), who will be speaking about ‘Pentecostalism and Pre-marital Counselling in Africa: A Case of Religious Sophistication?’. This is a public event, open to all university students, staff and others with an interest in the subject – for more details please see here.
YASN Conference – Transitions’ from what to what? Justice and Reconciliation in Africa
Registration is open for this upcoming Yorkshire African Studies Network conference on Friday 18 November at the University of Bradford – to register and for the programme see here.
LUCAS seminar with Professor Ebenezer Obadare
The next LUCAS seminar will see Professor Ebenezer Obadare (University of Kansas) speak on ‘Man of God, Subject of Veneration: Pastors, Politics, and Changing Forms of Authority in Africa’. It will take place on Wednesday 9 November, 4pm, SR 1.14 (Baines Wing), for more details please see here.
Sing Freedom – A story with songs of liberation
LUCAS are proud to be supporting a special performance by Frances Bernstein and her Free Range choir of Sing Freedom – a story with songs of liberation about the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, on Tuesday 22 November at 7.30pm in the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall – for more details and to book tickets (£5/£3) please see here.
Upcoming LUCAS Seminars
In a seminar hosted jointly by LUCAS and Leeds University Business School, Prof. Howard Stein (University of Michigan) will give a paper on ‘Industrial policy in Africa’ on Friday 21 October, 3pm in Liberty Building (LT 1.28) – for more details see here. On Monday 24 October, Dr Sabrina Parent from Université Libre de Bruxelles will give a joint LUCAS / French seminar on ‘From Senghor to Bouchareb, the living memory of Thiaroye’ at 5pm, Michael Sadler Building LG15 – for more details see here.
Dr Alex Vines OBE on ‘Narratives about Africa’s Future’
LUCAS and the Centre for Global Development are delighted that Dr Alex Vines OBE (Head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House) will be at the University of Leeds to speak on ‘Narratives about Africa’s Future: what role for academics and analysts?’ on Tuesday 18th October, 5pm, Maurice Keyworth Lecture Theatre, Leeds University Business School. All welcome – details here. Edited to add – the video of Alex’s talk is now available – see here
Forward to freedom exhibition in Leeds for Black History Month
LUCAS are proud to be bringing the exhibition Forward to freedom: The history of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1959-1994 to Leeds for Black History Month. We will launch the exhibition at a special roundtable on Leeds anti-apartheid activism on Wednesday 12 October. The Forward to freedom exhibition will be on display in the School of History at the University of Leeds from 10-14 October, at the Sheila Silver Library at Leeds Beckett University from 17-21 October and then Chapeltown Library on Chapeltown Road from 24-28 October – don’t miss the chance to catch this inspiring exhibition while it is in Leeds – for more details please see here.
Finding Africa 2016-17 – CfP: African Feminisms
In light of current debates on decolonisation and the continued interest in intersectional politics in the global sphere, Finding Africa invites researchers to propose papers which centre on the theme of African feminisms in any field of the humanities for their seminar series this year co-hosted with LUCAS at the University of Leeds. For their call for papers, please see here.
LUCAS Autumn Term Seminar Series 2016-17
Leeds University Centre for African Studies is pleased to announce its seminar series this Autumn – please see here or our ‘events’ pages for further details. Our first event is on Wednesday 12 October at 5.30pm, LG19 Michael Sadler Building and will see a roundtable discussion ‘Remembering anti-apartheid activism in Leeds’, which we are very proud to be hosting as part of Black History Month. This event will also mark the official launch of an exhibition which is in Leeds throughout October, Forward to freedom: The history of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1959-1994.
Creative Africas
There are still spaces left on Creative Africas: Culture and the Arts in Modern Africa (FOAR1100), a semester 1 Level 1 discovery module organised by Leeds University Centre for African Studies which offers an introduction to a wide range of forms of contemporary African cultural production and the historical and social contexts of their emergence.
YASN Conference – Transitions’ from what to what? Justice and Reconciliation in Africa
Please see this Call for Papers for the next Yorkshire African Studies Network conference, which will take place at the University of Bradford on Friday 18 November with the support of JEFCAS. The conference aims to subject to scrutiny the realms of criminal justice, social justice and reconciliation in Africa.
Leeds African Studies Bulletin # 77 out now
The latest issue of Leeds African Studies Bulletin (No. 77, 2015-16) is out now and available to view online and download – see here. This issue includes the LUCAS 2015-16 Annual Lecture on the excesses of power given by Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, who studied at Leeds in the 1950s. We welcome contributions for the next volume, for more information or if you have ideas for submissions please get in touch – the deadline for articles for volume No. 78 is 1 October 2016.
Poverty, Inc.: Film showing and discussion
On Wednesday 27 April, in collaboration with a local NGO, The Global Native, LUCAS is hosting a film showing of Poverty, Inc which will also feature a post-film discussion – for more details see here
Finding Africa seminar
The next Finding Africa seminar will now be: Liberating the Female Voice from the Patriarchal Order of the South African Pastoral Tradition: Anne Landsman’s The Devil’s Chimney by Ruth Daly, and will take place on 24 May 2016 at 4pm in Seminar Room 1 of the Leeds Humanities Research Institute (physical address: 31-2 Clarendon Place, Leeds) – for more details please see here.
Alex Beresford on South Africa’s Political Crisis
Our upcoming LUCAS seminar features Alexander Beresford (Leeds) talking about his new book, South Africa’s Political Crisis: Unfinished Liberation and Fractured Class Struggles, on Thursday 3 March at 4pm, Michael Sadler Building, University of Leeds, LG 19. All are welcome, for more details see here
Symposium on Religion, Homosexuality and LGBT Rights in Africa
This symposium on Thursday 7 April celebrates the launch of two book volumes, co-edited by Ezra Chitando and Adriaan van Klinken, and published with Ashgate in spring 2016: Public Religion and the Politics of Homosexuality in Africa and Christianity and Controversies over Homosexuality in Africa. For more details and how to reserve your place please see here
Professor Manuel Barcia’s inaugural lecture
On Thursday 10 March, Professor Manuel Barcia will give his inaugural lecture on ‘Slave Rebellions or Actions of War? Understanding West African Armed Resistance in Bahia and Cuba, 1807-1844’ – for more details and to reserve your place please see here;
Climate Change in Malawi PhD Studentship at Leeds
The Priestley International Centre for the Climate is launching its Climate Research Doctoral Training Programme with a suite of fully-funded PhD studentship opportunities including a project on ‘Evidence-based Policy for Climate Smart Agriculture in Malawi’ – for more details please see here
Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) Online
Check out the new ROAPE Online website, which has analysis of contemporary developments in Africa as well as details of scholarships, funding opportunities etc – including the Lionel Cliffe Memorial Research Scholarship
YASN Workshop on Gender and Sexuality
Two seminars on African theatre
In the School of English, a seminar with Prof. Jane Taylor (Leeds) on ‘Ubu and the Truth Commission: Transitional Justice and Theatre’ will take place on Tuesday 8 December at 5pm, Studio One of the Workshop Theatre (behind the Laidlaw library) – for more info please see here
There is also a new addition to the LUCAS Seminar series, as Prof. Jane Plastow (Leeds) will talk on ‘From Research to Activism: Making Theatre and Anthropology in Walukuba’ on Wednesday 9th December, at 5 pm, again in Studio One of the Workshop Theatre (beside Laidlaw Library) – for details of upcoming seminars this semester please see here
Finding Africa seminar
The next Finding Africa seminar will be held at Leeds on Wednesday 25 November 2015, at 5.30pm, University of Leeds’ Humanities Research Institute (29-31 Clarendon Place) and will see two papers on the Zimbabwean author and scholar, Yvonne Vera. Ryan Topper (Leeds) will present on “Life Beyond the Archive: Yvonne Vera’s The Stone Virgins” and Thando Njovane (York) will give a paper on “Architectures of Voice and Language in Yvonne Vera’s Under the Tongue” – for abstracts see here
LUCAS Seminar Series 2015-16
LUCAS is pleased to announce its Seminar Series for 2015-16. The next seminar is Alex Beresford (Leeds), ‘South Africa’s Political Crisis: Unfinished Liberation and Fractured Class Struggles’. Thursday 3 March, 4–5.30pm (seminar and book launch) (Michael Sadler LG 19) . All welcome – for the full list of seminars see here
Call for Papers: YASN Workshop on Gender and Sexuality
Wole Soyinka to give the LUCAS Annual Lecture 2015
LUCAS are delighted and honoured to announce that Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka will return to the University of Leeds on Thursday 8 October 2015 to give the LUCAS Annual Lecture on ‘Narcissus and other Pall Bearers: Morbidity as Ideology’. Please find more details of Wole Soyinka’s lecture here
The 2015 Lionel Cliffe Prize
LUCAS are happy to announce that Emma Camp has won the 2015 Lionel Cliffe prize for the best undergraduate dissertation on an African topic at the University of Leeds, on the topic of ‘To what extent has neoliberalism impacted upon the government and civil society in South Africa and can it explain Thabo Mbeki’s AIDS denialism?’. Many congratulations to Emma.