Category: African Studies

As part of its 'African Diplomat on Campus' series, the African Studies Institute presents a public lecture by HE Seydou Bouda on Tuesday, April 9 at 4 p.m. in room 480 of the Tate Student Center:

His Excellency, Ambassador Seydou Bouda has served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Burkina Faso to the United States of America August 2011. A Development Economist, Ambassador Bouda has worked in the government of Burkina Faso in various capacities for almost 30 years. His positions have included, but are not limited to: Minister of Health, Minister of Public Service and State Reform, and Minister of Economy and Development. The Ambassador has a specific interest in economic and political development in Africa, as well as poverty reduction strategies.
Ambassador Bouda will be delivering the lecture on some of the significant development challenges facing African nations in the 21st century.

For more information, please contact Loretta Davenport at the African Studies Institute.

Beginning Nov. 1, the University will mark the 25th anniversary of the African Studies Institute with a conference, theatre performances, film screenings and lectures to showcase the richness and diversity of the continent:

"The political, economic and cultural importance of Africa continues to grow, which makes this an especially opportune time for faculty, staff and students as well as community members to learn more about the continent and its people," said Akinloye Ojo, director of the UGA African Studies Institute and associate professor of comparative literature and African studies in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

The 25th anniversary celebration will include an international conference Nov. 8-10 in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. The conference, titled "Africa and its Diaspora: Expressions of Indigenous and Local Knowledge," will encourage and document the ongoing conversation on the paradoxical dynamics of preserving the unique identity of African indigenous and local knowledge in an increasingly globalized and westernized world. The conference will offer a forum for intensive exchanges between scholars, researchers and technocrats from various disciplines who study Africa, the African Diaspora, the U.S. and other parts of the globe.

The conference also will bring several ambassadors from African nations—including Cote D'Ivoire, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe—together to discuss the African continent and the African diaspora on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. in Masters Hall of the UGA Hotel and Conference Center. Renowned poet and scholar Tanure Ojaide, professor of Africana studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, will deliver the keynote address on Nov. 9 at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.

The Ambassador from the island nation of Cape Verde to United States, Maria de Fatima Lima da Veiga, will be the guest of the UGA African Studies Institute on April 4 and 5 to deliver a series of lectures and meet with faculty and students. The African Studies institute would like to highlight two public lectures in particular to be given by the ambassador:

On April 4 at 5 p.m. in room 480 of the Tate Center, she’ll deliver a lecture titled “International Relations and African Diaspora: The Case of Cape Verde.”

On April 5 at 8 a.m., also in room 480 Tate, she will be the keynote speaker at the Global Education Forum and will deliver a lecture titled “Education, Sports & Development in Cape Verde.”

Former UGA vice president for public service and outreach Art Dunning returns to campus in March to deliver the 20th annual Darl Snyder lecture:

Dunning, vice chancellor for international programs and outreach at the University of Alabama System, will deliver the 20th annual Darl Snyder lecture at the University of Georgia March 6 at 10 a.m. in the Mahler Auditorium of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.

The lecture, titled "The University of Georgia and Africa: A Future with a Past," is free and open to the public.