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Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Oliver Walther

Dr. Olivier Walther joins the Center for African Studies this year as a Visiting Associate Professor. He is an Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Southern Denmark, the Africa Editor for the Journal of Borderlands Studies and has a long history of collaboration in research with organizations such as the World Food Programme and the OECD. His research […]

Dr. Abbey Chokera Featured in the News

Dr. Abbey Chokera, UF alumnus and former Director of the UF Africa Choir (Pazeni Sauti), was featured in the UFIC Bulletin and UF College of the Arts News for his appointment by the President of Kenya’s office to be the Senior Assistant Director of Music for the Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts. https://arts.ufl.edu/in-the-loop/news/som-alumnus-abbey-chokera-appointed-senior-assistant-director-of-music-in-kenya/Dr. […]

Graduate Students Moore and Mulindahabi Co-Publish Article in Journal of Applied Ecology

Co-authors Jennifer Moore, a student in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Felix Mulindahabi, a student in SNRE, and Madan Oli, a professor in WEC recently published an article in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Moore, J.F., Mulindahbai, F., Masozera, M.K., Nichols, J.D., Hines, J.E., Turikunkiko, E., and Oli, M.K. 2017. Are ranger patrols […]

Spotlight on New Programs and Communications Officer 

Hello! I’m Riley Ravary, the new Programs and Communications Officer taking over for Jenny Boylan. This is my fourth year at UF researching East African protected areas through the Anthropology doctoral program. My undergraduate education was completed at Michigan State University, where I first started participating in African Studies coursework through their Center’s program. Here at UF […]

Publications Week Of August 21st, 2017

Alain Karsenty, Claudia Romero∗, Paolo Omar Cerutti, Jean-Louis Doucet, Francis E. Putz, Christelle Bernard, Richard Eba’a Atyi, Pascal Douard, Florian Claeys, Sébastien Desbureaux, Driss Ezzine de Blas, Adeline Fayolle, Timothée Fomété, Eric Forni, Valéry Gond, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, Fritz Kleinschroth, Frédéric Mortier, Robert Nasi, Jean Claude Nguinguiri, Cédric Vermeulen, Carlos de Wasseigek. 2017. Deforestation and timber production in […]

2017-2018 FLAS Fellows and CAS Research Assistants

2017-2018 FLAS Fellows and CAS Research Assistants Congratulations to all Center for African Studies Research Assistants and Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellows for this school year! Swahili FLAS Fellows include Jesse Borden (Ecology), Aaron Ellrich (Anthropology), Joshua Martin (Linguistics), Ciara McLaren (Political Science), and Benjamin Lowe (Ecology). Akan FLAS Fellows include Max Gelber (MDP) […]

Message from the Director

Welcome Back from Director Brenda Chalfin Dear CAS Students, Faculty, Friends and Affiliates: Welcome Back to Campus! As the 2017-18 Academic Year takes off we look forward to your involvement in Center programs and activities. Mark your calendars. Our first Baraza is scheduled for Friday, September 8 with Xolela Mangcu from the University of Cape Town. The […]

Graduate Student – Summer Plans

Allegra, Jacqueline – MDP program and Certificate in African Studies – Field Practicum: Environmental Health in the Artic- a documentary film, Anchorage, Alaska Borden, Jesse – 1st year MSc student (SNRE) and FLAS Fellow through CAS – conducting research in forest canopies around Gainesville from May-June. In June, he will be surveying a forest’s canopy in a small tropical […]

UF and SWAC/OECD Sign MoU

SWAC/OECD Secretariat signs a memorandum of understanding w/UF On 4 April, the SWAC/OECD Secretariat hosted the Sahel Research Group of the University of Florida to celebrate the new memorandum of understanding between the two organisations. Leonardo A. Villalón, Dean of the International Center and Co-ordinator of the Sahel Research Group at the University of Florida […]

Publications Week of April 17, 2017

John Hames (Anthropology, UF), 2017, “‘A River is not a Boundary’: Interplays of National and Linguistic Citizenship in Pulaar Language Activism,” Canadian Journal of African Studies. Anita Hannig (Brandeis University), 2017, Beyond Surgery: Injury, Healing, and Religion at an Ethiopian Hospital. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (Dr. Hannig was our Baraza speaker on Oct. 21, 2016). CAS […]

Migration Dreams: Africans in China

“The History of African Trading Communities in Guangzhou, China” Dr. Heidi Østbø Haugen, University of Oslo “The Bridge is not Burning: Transformation and Resilience within China’s African Diaspora Communities” Dr. Adams Bodomo, University of Vienna April 5th, 404 Grinter Hall 11:45 AM— 2 PM (Lunch will be provided) Film Showing: Guangzhou Dream Factory With Filmmaker Christiane […]

Congo-Kinshasa meets Gainesville

Event 1 : Wednesday, March 29th, 6-10 p.m. at The Wooly: a screening of Djo Munga’s award-winning “sexy crime flick,” set in Kinshasa. Event 2: Thursday, March 30th, 3-5 p.m. at Smathers Library (East) room 100: an interactive archival and exhibition workshop focused on the Special Collections’ newest manuscripts collection, the Papa Mfumu’eto comic archive, […]

Negotiating Gender and Sexualities in Muslim Africa

The symposium explores the lived experiences related to gender and sexualities among Muslims living in diverse societies in contemporary Africa. We acknowledge and invite discussions of sub-cultures of sexual and gender non-conformity, and the ritual traditions that include gender play and subversion across Muslim Africa. Event Date: Friday, March 24th at 3:30 p.m. and continues […]

2017 Global Nutrition Symposium

Nurturing Development: Improving Human Nutrition with Animal-Source Foods Location: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Date: Thursday, March 30, 2017 Time: 8:00 – 5:00pm EDT, reception to follow Join the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems at UF/IFAS for a day long symposium to learn about the important role of animal-source foods in improving […]

CAS in Washington, DC 

As part of a Coalition for International Education initiative to promote the Title VI and Fulbright-Hays programs, Center for Latin American Studies Director, Dr. Philip J. Williams, and Center for African Studies Director, Dr. Brenda Chalfin, traveled to Washington DC to meet with congressional staff of Senator Marco Rubio, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Rep. […]

Awards and Publications Week of February 13, 2017

Oumar Ba (PhD, Political Science) successfully defended his dissertation, “Outsourcing Justice: Africa and the Politics of the International Criminal Court.” Terje Ostebo, Director of the Center for Global Islamic Studies and Associate Professor in Religion and the Center for African Studies, wrote an op-ed in the Sunday edition (2/12) of the Gainesville Sun, titled, “Trump’s Muslim Ban […]

CAS Welcomes Visiting Scholars from University of Dar es Salaam

Please join us in welcoming Paschal Charles Mdukula and Paul Japhet, two Visiting Scholars from Tanzania attached to the UF Center for African Studies as part of the Center’s longstanding University of Dar es Salaam – UF Exchange Program. Paschal Charles Mdukula is an Assistant Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Dar es Salaam, with a research […]

UF Alumni in Ghana

  Also, while in Ghana, CAS Director Brenda Chalfin caught up with three UF alumni! Pictured here (left to right) is Adjowa Walker (’08), Afua Entsuah (’08), and Emmanuel Gamor (’09) at the Coco Lounge in Accra on Thursday January 5th, 2017.   CAS News Bulletin: Week of January 16th, 2017

Message from the Director

Dear CAS Students, Faculty and Friends: Welcome back to campus and best wishes for the New Year! I’m in Ghana where I witnessed the inauguration of incoming President, Nana Akuffo-Addo! Very exciting! There’s already a lot going on at the Center too although the semester’s just begun. Mark your calendars: The Covering Africa initiative co-sponsored […]

Awards and Publications Week of December 5, 2016

Emily Pukuma (Political Science) has been awarded a CLAS Dissertation Fellowship funded by the W. W. Massey, Sr. Presidential Scholarship Fund for the Spring 2017 term. Mamadou Bodian (Political Science) defended his dissertation, “The Politics of Electoral Reform in Francophone West Africa: The Birth and Change of Electoral Rules in Mali, Niger, and Senegal.” His supervisor committee […]

UF @ ASA 2016

UF ASA PARTY The Center for African Studies invites UF faculty, students, alumni, and friends to join us at Duke’s Counter (3000 Connecticut Ave NW) on Friday December 2nd from 9pm – midnight. We will have some tables reserved but still plan on taking over the place Gator style!See you there! UF SCHEDULE AT ASA Session Times Thurs. Dec. 1: […]

CAS Grad Students Win Research Abroad for Doctoral Student (RAD) Award

Jennifer Moore – Doctoral Candidate in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Proposed research project and location: Mammalian biodiversity monitoring and conservation in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda Cody Howard – Doctoral Candidate in Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Proposed research project and location: Arid Climate Pioneers: The historical evolution of the […]

Dr. Ostebo Comments on Oromo Protests and the State of Emergency in Ethiopia

According to Terje Ǿstebǿ, Associate Professor of Religion at UF, a great deal is at stake with the recent Oromo protests and the 6-month state of emergency issued in Ethiopia on October 9th, 2016. Ǿstebǿ recently returned from a 5-day trip to the country last week. Some brief background: Ethiopia is governed by the Ethiopian […]

Patrick Milligan’s Eco Tones Podcast and National Geographic Blog

The Eco Tones Podcast is curated by Patrick Milligan, a 2nd year PhD student in the Biology Department at UF. Milligan works in Dr. Todd Palmer’s lab, which generally works on community ecology and the ecology and evolution of species interactions. Milligan’s own research investigates the effects of the “big-headed ant” species which has invaded Laikipia, Kenya […]