Centenary lectures in Africa

'How Big is Africa?'

4th July 2016 | 6pm-8pm | Hall 1 - African Union Building, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

From ‘tragedy’ to ‘African Renaissance’ to reality: what are the most important features of African economies and the continent as a whole?
Dr Carlos Lopes discusses demography, land mass, the blue economy, migration, and more within Africa and globally, to give a better, clearer idea of Africa’s place in the world.　

Speaker: Dr Carlos Lopes (Head of UNECA - UN Economic commission for Africa)
Discussant: Professor Christopher Cramer (SOAS University of London)
Chair: Deborah Johnston (SOAS University of London)

'The Place of Heritage Renewal in Forging Confident Futures ‘Go back for that which you have forgotten’

10th November 2016 | 5pm - 7pm | Lecture Theatre | African Studies Institute, University of Legon, Ghana

The title of the talk is based on an old Akan proverb - Do not be afraid to go back for that which you have forgotten, and it encapsulate the focus of the lecture on issues around heritage, history and identity.

Speaker: Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, Honorary Research fellow, SOAS
Chair: Mashood Baderin, Professor of Law, SOAS

'Constituting the Nation, Beyond the Constitution: A South African Future?'

29th March 2017 | 10am - 1.30pm | University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus, Alice, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa Room: Sport Complex

The South African Constitution has been hailed as a model document in state formation and consolidation. Yet, if its rational stature seems solid, the diverse human experience across the land that has to respond to it with a collective sense of social coherence and legitimacy may be imagined but seems critically unformed. What would it take to create such experiential coherence and legitimacy?

Speaker: Professor Njabulo Ndebele
Welcome remarks: Professor Sakhela Buhlungu (University of Fort Hare)
Chair: Professor Mashood Baderin (SOAS/CAS)