Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften

The ‘African’ University’s Innovative Self-renewal

Michael Okyerefo (Nelson Mandela University)

When? May 20th, 12 PM

Where? IAAW, Invalidenstr. 118, Room 117

Abstract: 

The ‘university’ as a concept and institution in Africa is perhaps the oldest in the world. It certainly predates the European university, which was imported into Africa only at the dawn of the 19th century as part of the colonial project. This European model of the university has, however, almost obliterated the African University that precedes colonialism. Consequently, the fact that Africa had universities prior to colonialism that served as colossal cradles of knowledge production is hardly known, let alone celebrated today in mainstream conversations on the academy. Revisiting the university as an African idea and reality can enhance the contemporary European model in operation on the continent. This study makes an important contribution to the debate on how the African University can facilitate an African emancipatory imagination by examining the character and values of the authentic, historic African University enterprise and what prospects the resulting discoveries have in strengthening the contemporary African University. The goal is to emphasise the fact that the university is not foreign to Africa and rediscover how it speaks to the African situation.

Professor Michael Okyerefo specializes in the Sociology of Culture and Religion, with a research focus on global sociology, migration, and African Social Thought. He has held prestigious fellowships at the University of Cambridge and the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme. A former Visiting Professor at the University of Ottawa, he is currently a Visiting Professor at Nelson Mandela University and serves on the Executive Committee of the International Sociological Association.