A network in excellence

Dear AEGIS members and the wider European African Studies community,

These are extremely sobering times, as we witness and/or experience directly the unprecedented spread and scale of the global corona pandemic, with its many devastating effects, as well as the many deeply human and inspiring acts. With there being multiple and shifting ‘epicentres’, and the wave-like escalation already starting to relocate to the African continent, there is much more ahead to anticipate with dread and respond to with generosity, courage and hope.

On a more immediate and pragmatic note concerning AEGIS, due to the corona crisis and the related ongoing uncertainties, a range of planned AEGIS activities have necessarily already been cancelled or postponed, while others – some for dates in June – are still under consideration. Several more activities planned for the European Autumn or later remain scheduled as originally planned.

We are aware of the immense disappointment – as well as cost to some extent – both for the anticipated participants and for those who have planned such events with great commitment, energy and passion. We sincerely hope for everyone’s sake that all this positive personal and intellectual investment will have the chance to bear fruit at a later date.

Below is an overview of the status of these different activities, as things currently stand in early April 2020. As this is a ‘rolling’ situation, subsequent updates will be provided as and when decisions have been made and new information becomes available. Both personally, and on behalf of the AEGIS Board, I wish everyone strength, courage and creativity in addressing the many challenges of the present, and a healthy and safe passage through these troubled waters.
 

Amanda Hammar, President of AEGIS
 

New Gulf Streams - Middle East and Eastern Africa intersected

The Fourth  AEGIS Thematic Conference of the Collaborative Research Group Africa in the Indian Ocean "New Gulf Streams – Middle East and Eastern Africa intersected" will be held at ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon (at Lisbon, Portugal) on April 23-24, 2020.

The Call for Papers for AEGIS members is now open until January 31st 2020. Please send us your paper abstracts (a maximum of 200 words) to GulfStreams.cei@iscte-iul.pt.

Please check the call for papers for more info.

The Africa Knows! conference will be the closing activity of the special Africa 2020 year. It wll take place from 2-4 December 2020 at the The Hague University of Applied Sciences/De Haagse Hogeschool. It is an AEGIS Thematic Conference that precedes the ECAS9 Conference in Cologne, 'African Futures', 2-5 June 2021. 

The following key issues will be addressed at the conference: There are great changes in the African knowledge landscape: is Africa preparing itself for leapfrogging to innovations? What will the nascent multi-polar world of the 21st century mean for Africa’s role in knowledge and innovation? After 60 years of Independence, how do we finally decolonize the minds and change attitudes towards real co-creation?

The 2020 Summer School is organized by the Centro di Studi Africani in Sardegna – CSAS in collaboration with the AEGIS Centres of Leipzig, Roskilde, Leiden, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Köln, Leuven, Napoli, Bayreuth, Basel.

The aim of the Summer School is: a) to bring together advanced Ph.D. students and teaching staff from AEGIS Centres in order to exchange field and research experience; b) to improve the students’ ability to prepare and present their research in an international context and more specifically to serve as a ‘feeder’ for ECAS 9 in Cologne; c) to promote graduate training within AEGIS and stimulate African-European inter-university cooperation. 

Read more about the 2020 Summer School.