Africa in Words Guest Lucy McCann writes: For the 20th anniversary of the first democratic elections in South Africa on the 27th April a website has been launched recording the history of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Britain. Funded by the Amiel… Read More ›
History and Memory
A lesson well learned: my internship at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool
Africa in Words Guest: Rianne Walet I am a cultural heritage student from the Netherlands. From September 2013 till February 2014 I had the privilege of doing an internship with the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool. For five lovely months… Read More ›
Words on Teaching – “Visual sources in the classroom – after ‘Teaching Difficult Subjects’ (Birmingham)”
Last month I attended a seminar day at Birmingham, ‘Teaching Difficult Subjects’ (organised by the Higher Education Academy in the UK). Although the full content of the day was fascinating (and wide ranging) encompassing genocide, holocaust and ‘war studies’, I… Read More ›
Words on Teaching – “The Image of Africa in a Survey Course”
Africa in Words Guest: Bronwen Everill In my three years of teaching African history at a variety of levels (first, second, and third years; MA students), I have continually been pleasantly surprised by the quality of debate that African history… Read More ›
Curating an image of Lagos
As early as 1886, Lagosian intellectuals were engaged in changing racist and stereotyped ideas of Africa and Africans. They made a conscious effort in showing an intellectual and vibrant city, interconnected to Europe and the Americas. In my thesis Producing… Read More ›
Highlights: Year 2, Africa in Words
We’ve had a busy twelve months at AiW, one full of firsts – such as our linked ‘Series’ posts featuring Guest contributors, and the beginnings of our Q&As. The blog has now been running for two years, and we’ve gained new followers… Read More ›
African Studies Classics: Lagosian Print Culture and Gilroy’s Black Atlantic
This is the first post of ‘African Study Classics’: a series about how intellectuals used key African history, anthropology, sociology and literature books in their own work. We are inviting writers (academics or not) to tell us about a book… Read More ›
Sharing the Black Atlantic: Afromodern@Tate and beyond
The Afromodern exhibit at Tate Liverpool was innovative, brought together work from collections and collectors around the world, and closed several years ago. I remember particularly clearly the impact of the striking work of Kara Walker. However, unlike other exhibitions,… Read More ›
Marjorie Keniston McIntosh, ‘Yoruba Women, Work and Social Change’ (Indiana University Press, 2009)
Marjorie Keniston McIntosh’s new(ish) book, Yoruba Women, Work and Social Change’ has been on my shelf to read for longer than it should have been. McIntosh’s introduction promises a study ‘of adaptability and syncretism, not of simple continuity or abrupt… Read More ›
Global and Imperial History Network PG and Early Career Workshop, 30 May 2013.
The Global and Imperial History Network, Thursday 30 May 2013. The Department of History at the University of Exeter will be hosting a workshop on Thursday 30 May 2013 for postgraduate students and early careers researchers who are interested in… Read More ›
Sarah Forbes Bonetta: biography, migration and the historical agenda
I gave a paper last year debating the use of Sarah Forbes Bonetta’s biography over time. Sarah’s story reads like a novel: a young girl who was ‘adopted’ by Queen Victoria, after a traveller to West Africa brought her back… Read More ›
Preserving for whom? Discussions on the conservation of archives
The survival of print culture has been in the newspapers recently. Usually restricted to a readership of academics, ways to preserve and make various forms of print culture accessible to the public has become a topic of interest of a wider group…. Read More ›
Debate as a form of art
Hi folks, As you know I am writing a paper/chapter about the intellectual debates in Lagos between 1880 and 1920, in which I argue that the best way to study the dynamic of the Lagosian intellectual network is through their… Read More ›
Hard data on our (soft) heads: the Lagosian intellectual network database
Maybe it is because I am married to a sociologist, or it is a kind of OCD, I am not so sure why, but I decided to organise my primary sources in a database. And, what is worse, now I am… Read More ›
Professor Micere Githae Mugo: Public Lecture at the University of Nairobi
Last month I was lucky enough to catch Micere Mugo’s public lecture and book launch at the University of Nairobi. In an attempt to share some more informal thoughts and reflections, I just wanted to post about a couple of… Read More ›
Modernity vs tradition trap – help!
Hi girls (and boys, if any is reading this) I have some concerns about my work that I would love to share with you and listen (read, better) any comments/suggestions you may have. As you know, I am currently studying… Read More ›
Conflict, Memory and Reconciliation: Bridging Past, Present and Future, SIT and National University of Rwanda, 10-13th January, Kigali
I attended this conference in Kigali last month, and just wanted to share a few thoughts and highlights from it. In his introduction one of the two keynote speakers, Professor Anastase Shyaka, highlighted that Rwanda is an evidence-base for research… Read More ›