GSSC Seminar Series
27 June 2023
Joint discussion of the recent ECAS 9 opening round table and keynote
Convenors: Martina Gockel, Michaela Pelican, Clemens Greiner
12:00-13:00
As the dust settles from the 9th European Conference on African Studies (ECAS), we would like to take the opportunity to discuss two of its key events: The opening roundtable “Is there a Future for African Studies in Europe?” and the Keynote speech by the Kenyan author Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor “Inscribing African Futures - from the Continent to the Galaxies”, which was widely perceived as controversial and provocative. What have we learned from these interventions? How have they been perceived by the public? How do we assess the dynamics in these discussions? What are possible ways forward?
To prepare for the discussion, we are happy to share a news item from the local newspaper Kölner Stadtanzeiger about Owuor’s keynote (https://www.ksta.de/kultur-medien/african-futures-konferenz-in-koeln-eine-unverschaemte-rede-zur-eroeffnung-584315) (unfortunately German only); and for those who were not able to listen to the keynote, we can provide a copy of her manuscript (for private use, strictly). Please send an email to Aline Schmidl (aline.schmidl@uni-koeln.de) to ask for a pdf copy.