News & Events

ASCL director Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald gave the Cleveringa Lecture at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, on 25 November. Title of his lecture: 'The Morality of Truth: The Importance of Facts in History'. In this lecture, Prof. Gewald  discussed alternative facts and alternative histories, arguing that historical facts actually do exist and that historians can approach the truth of the past. You can now read the Cleveringa lecture online.

Prof. Ton Dietz was knighted as an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau at the end of the Annual Meeting of the Leiden African Studies Assembly on 7 December. Prof. Dietz, who retired as the director of the African Studies Centre Leiden on 1 September, was taken by surprise when the mayor of his hometown entered the stage in Museum Volkenkunde Leiden, where the Annual Meeting took place. Read more about this special event.

Mariam de Haan (24) and Felix Kram (21) are two of our current students of the Research Master in African Studies. How can African knowledge be raised, and what are the consequences of ethnographic fieldwork? These are questions Mariam and Felix like to think about. Curious about their background, education so far and (career) expectations for the future? Read their personal stories to get to know them better!