News & Events

Language is uniquely human. Through language, humans express their understanding of the world. Different human groups employ linguistic and cultural practices to navigate and handle coordination problems in interaction. Language is the key to understanding human nature. It can therefore be used as a tool to address existential and sustainable human development issues. Yet, international as well as national development agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, or Agenda 2063 of the African Union, or the 40-year Development Plan of Ghana ignore and neglect the role of language in shaping and directing human lives. This workshop is organised in the context of a wider research agenda of making languages matter in African Studies and in the conception and implementation of strategies to eradicate inequality in all spheres of human life in Africa.

All members of LeidenASA are invited for a presentation on ‘visualizing landscapes of extraction’ on April 19, 11-13 (venue to be announced). The presentation stems from a methodological experiment that was carried out as part of the collaboration around Field Research and Training in Ghana (Ghana FR&T). The Ghana FR&T was partially financed by LeidenASA.

The ASCL is looking for a research assistant for the project 'Economics in Sub-Sahara Africa: Towards a meso-level perspective on (frugal) innovation for inclusive human development and environmental sustainability'. The aim of this vacancy is to develop a research project proposal. It is a joint initiative of the ASCL, the Centre for Frugal Innovation in Africa and the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen. Read the full text of the vacancy.

On Tuesday 17 April, LeidenASA visiting research fellow Nurit Hashimshony-Yaffe will give a lunch seminar titled Between Rural and Urban- Identity and organizations amongst the Pokot (Kenya).

The African Studies Centre Leiden congratulates its researcher Marleen Dekker with the subsidy she has been awarded by NWO within the Westerdijk Talent Scheme. Marleen Dekker is Professor of Inclusive Development in Africa at Leiden University. In 2017 the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science made additional resources (5 million euros) available to appoint 100 female professors. This is because the percentage of female professors in the Netherlands is one of the lowest in Europe. The subsidy amounts to € 50,000 for each appointment.