African Academics Come to Cam

Cambridge’s Centre for African Studies has welcomed four leading African academics to take part in a research programme.

The yearly programme brings together a wide range of contributors to collectively produce a book centred around a theme, this year’s being Myth and Modernity.

The scholars will be looking especially at African literature and recurring themes of slavery, the slave trade and colonialism.

Their time spent at the Centre for African Studies, founded by anthropologist Audrey Richards, comes a welcome break from their professional stints at prestigious African institutions.

The Centre itself has had a busy week last Friday hosting legendary Chinua Achebe, an event that packed out two lecture rooms in the Law Fac.

At the same time over 80 Cambridge researchers are set to go for a spell in Africa to strengthen health research being carried out there.

The programme, funded by £5.2 million from the Wellcome Trust, promises to bolster African academic departments to lend a hand to aspiring youths.

Professor David Dunne, director of the participating THRiVE programme in Cambridge said, “Even in the best African universities, shortages of PhD-level staff and internationally competitive research groups denies young research scientists sufficient mentorship and advanced training, causing a serious block to African scientific progress.”

The recent splurge of outreach programmes pushed by Cambridge have been university-wide. The Tab reported last week on Cambridge University Press’s adoption of baby panda, Jin.