News & Events

On 3 July the Leiden University Dialogue in Education Network (LUDIEN) was officially launched. The network welcomes all who are interested in dialogue as a tool for connection and improved student wellbeing in higher education. The dialogue method is moreover useful to talk about sensitive issues in class.

In the first week of September, at the start of the academic year, we welcomed our new (Res)MA students in African Studies and minor students in African Dynamics and Frugal Innovation. A total of 59 students enrolled in these four programmes. After introductions to the ASCL and their new study programme, the students are looking forward to starting their coursework. 

Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald receives an NWO Open Competition grant to conduct research on mining history in Southern Africa. The project will investigate the environmental history of three industrial mining centres in southern Africa. It will describe and analyse the long-term impact of mining in southern Africa on more than humans alone.

How to make light in dark times? The NVAS Africa Day, held on 15 March in Utrecht, will focus on humor, in theory and in practice. While the humorous and the playful may sometimes seem incongruous with crises, they both find their foundation in absurdity. Humor functions to address topics that are sensitive, ‘off-limits,’ and to subvert the status quo. Join us in Utrecht!

International development mechanisms determine and dominate approaches to urban development, but what is rarely seen are the ingenious innovations that offer alternative development approaches in urban spaces. This seminar on 21 November by Prof. Shuaib Lwasa (Erasmus University Rotterdam) will explore some of the levers for harnessing these opportunities.