Roundtable: African Studies and Collaboration between Global North and South: Seen from Anthropology and other Disciplines
This roundtable, with academic speakers from African partner universities of Freie Universität Berlin, is concerned with questions about how constructive and substantial collaboration, between partners from the global North and South can and should proceed, and what particular challenges and demands need to be addressed and taken on board. This is a collaborative event between IfSKA, Freie Universität, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), and the co2libri network, funded by the Berlin University Alliance. The speakers from East Africa are in Berlin through an ErasmusPlus global teaching exchange partnership programme.
As partners, we would like to get into an open exchange about specific chances and opportunities, as well as difficulties that are involved in partnership processes, and in cultivating exchange (looking at research and teaching). Speakers are asked to address matters on the basis of their own experiences, draw from examples (and from the respective perspectives of their country, and their institutional bases) for the sake of discussion, and to outline goals and wishes they have, while also touching on learning experiences and problems.
We invite students and researchers in Anthropology and related disciplines (including Religious Studies; Literature; Philosophy; Geography) as well as in Area Studies to participate in our discussion. The event is organized in collaboration between IfSKA, the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Freie Universität, and ZMO’s research unit ‘Religion and Intellectual Culture’.
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Oriare Nyarwath (Univ. of Nairobi, Dept. of Philosophy) - African philosophy; political thought in Africa; rationality of tradition; Luo culture; logic
Dr. Mary Khatib (State Univ. Zanzibar, SUZA, Dept. of Geography) - human geography; focus on climate change and maritime world; feminist approaches in research; focus on women's lives
Dr. Michael Lyakurwa (Univ. Dar es Salaam, Dept. of Philosophy) - Applied philosophy; environmental ethics; development
Prof. Dr. Abdulkader Tayob (Univ. of Cape Town, Dept. of Religious Studies), Georg Forster Humboldt Foundation Award holder, with ZMO - Religious studies; Islam in Africa; Muslim publics; moral economies in Muslim contexts
Anna Helfer, PhD student at Freie Universität Berlin, Anthropology and Art History, engaged in collaborative projects with artists and curators in Dakar, Senegal
Moderators of this roundtable will be PD Dr. Abdoulaye Sounaye, Head of Research Unit ‘Religion and Intellectual Culture’ at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) and Kai Kresse, Professor of Anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin and Vice-Director of ZMO.
All welcome!
Zeit & Ort
16.10.2025 | 14:15
Freie Universität, L 116 (Seminarzentrum), Otto-von Simson-Str. 26, 14195 Berlin