Ufahamu Africa

We've got another deep dive episode this week, featuring a conversation between Kim and Rachel on COVID-19 vaccines, global distribution, and the difference between equality and equity. They also take us through some of the top news stories of the week, including ongoing talks about a hydroelectric dam on the Nile River in Egypt, the election in Djibouti, and more. Books, Links, & Article...

Kim and Rachel take a deep dive into the protests in Senegal, explaining everything you need to know about what's happening and what it means. They also talk about the recent death of Tanzanian president, John Magufuli. And in lieu of a guest, we feature our student essay competition winner, Hammed Kayode Alabi! Hammed is a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh studying Africa and i...

N’Dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba joins us in conversation this week to discuss her new book, the history of human capital theory, education in Africa, and tells us what is giving her hope. In this week's news, we announce the winner of our student essay competition, share links to a virtual symposium on immigration and the changing dynamics of blackness, and talk about what is going on with COVID-...

Not one guest, but three on our latest episode! Rachel speaks with Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, Francis Nyamnjoh, and George Ofosu about postcolonial theory, decolonization of the university, and knowledge generation. All three have contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics, and we have access for our listeners to the chapters of our guests. Books, Links, & Articles Living by the...

In our last episode of Black History Month, Rachel interviews political theorist Adom Getachew on her new book, which reconstructs an account of self-determination offered in the political thought of Black Atlantic anticolonial nationalists during the height of decolonization in the 20th century. We have lots of great recommendations for listeners this week, including books on race and feminism, a...

Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué is an assistant professor of gender and sexuality in African Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her conversation with us, she highlights her work in Cameroon on gender, identity, and nationalism, which has culminated in the publication of a new book, "Gender, Separatist Politics, and Embodied Nationalism in Cameroon." As we continue our...

This week's episode features Cécile Fromont, an associate professor of art history at Yale University, who was a panelist for "Repatriation of Museum Objects," an event held by Cornell University's Institute for European Studies. She shares her perspective through four stories, drawing on her work as a historian of African and visual material culture in the early modern period....

This week, we are sharing expertise from Souleymane Bachir Diagne who spoke on a panel last October as part of "Repatriation of Museum Objects" for Cornell University's Institute for European Studies. Next week, we will be sharing the expertise of Cécile Fromont, another of the event's panelists, as part 2 of this episode. In the news, Kim and Rachel talk about recent events in...

Happy New Year! We are back with our first episode of 2021, and a conversation between our co-hosts Kim and Rachel. On our minds from 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, many of the elections held in the past year, and as always, we share what we are reading and the scholars and perspectives we're watching. Books, Links, & Articles Authoritarian Origins of Democratic Party Systems in A...

Joining us in conversation this week is Cyril Obi, program director of the African Peacebuilding Network, to talk with Rachel about the geopolitics of oil in Africa, his work with the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program, and the great work of the African Peacebuilding Network. And if you're still looking for gifts for your African studies friends, check out this week's news...

Nana Akufo-Addo has just won the presidency in this week's Ghanaian election with about 51 percent of the vote. We interview Noah Nathan, who has just published a new book on electoral politics in Ghana. He also tells us about his upcoming work on political brokers and party and state bureaucracy. Rachel and Kim tell us what's going on in African news this week, including in Western Saha...

Why would a dictator create constraints to their own power? Anne Meng explains to us in this week's episode! Meng shares her expertise, which can also be found in her newly published article, "Winning the Game of Thrones," and book, "Constraining Dictatorship." In other news, Kim and Rachel cover Ivorian elections, term limits, and the insurgency in Northern Mozambique. Bo...

Happy #100EpisodesOfUfahamu! For our 100th episode, Rachel interviews Siba Grovogui about race and racism in international relations. You can listen to the interview in English or French! Kim and Rachel talk about Zambia's COVID response, a crisis in Ethiopia, and the passing of Jerry Rawlings. We also announce our Ufahamu Africa essay competition. Submit a one-page essay reflecting on a topi...

Happy #100EpisodesOfUfahamu! For our 100th episode, Rachel interviews Siba Grovogui about race and racism in international relations. You can listen to the interview in English or French! Kim and Rachel talk about Zambia's COVID response, a crisis in Ethiopia, and the passing of Jerry Rawlings. We also announce our Ufahamu Africa essay competition. Submit a one-page essay reflecting on a topi...

We are delighted to share this conversation between Nobel Prize winner Program of African Studies (PAS) and professor of English. Thank you to PAS for sharing this interview with us, which they hosted on October 2, 2020. Soyinka shares his thoughts on the American presidential election, the African diaspora, reclaiming African art, and more. Before the interview, Kim and Rachel share some news hig...

In the news this week: #EndSARS, elections in Tanzania, and more. Kim and Rachel put these events into context and share what you need to know. This week's interview features guest host Patrick Mbullo Owuor in conversation with Denielle Elliott about KEMRI, Elliott's new research, and more! Books, Links, & Articles Reimagining Science and Statecraft in Postcolonial Kenya: Stories fro...

Presidential elections are happening in multiple African countries, where we're seeing constitutional changes that allow presidents to seek third terms. Kim and Rachel also talk about the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Nigeria, the politics of education access, and a new report on migration in Africa. This week's interview features Lina Benabdallah—an expert on China-Africa relatio...

Yonatan Morse, assistant professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, says that there have been three crises occurring in Cameroon over the last few years. He discusses them with Kim in this week's interview. In the news: 400,000 people have not been able to register to vote in Burkina Faso, the world is watching the U.S. election, and more! Books, Links, & Articles Ho...

A lot is happening in the news! Kim and Rachel highlight some of the things they're seeing in their news feed, including: ECOWAS and Mali, African responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Takondwa Semphere's recent review of Beyonce's "Black is King." Kim interviews Oumar Ba, whose new book about the International Criminal Court highlights his expertise in international jus...

We're back with season 5 of the Ufahamu Africa podcast! In this teaser episode, Kim and Rachel share what they've been reading, the conversations and guests they are looking forward to, and announce that the podcast has received funding from the Carnegie Corporation. Tune in every Saturday for new episodes that will continue to prioritize African perspectives as we learn about life and p...

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne (@dadakim) read her review of two recent books with insights on how increasing urbanization in Africa changes (or doesn’t change) politics and power: Noah L. Nathan’s (@noahlnathan) “Electoral Politics and Africa’s Urban Transition: Class and Ethnicity in Ghana,” and Jeffrey W. Paller’s (@JWPaller) “Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics...

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read Emmanuel Balogun’s (@Ea_Balogun) review of  “The Political Life of an Epidemic,” written by Simukai Chigudu (@SimuChigudu), a professor of politics at Oxford University.  The review was published in this past Friday’s installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular (#APSRS20), and this recording is being shared as par...

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read Laura Seay’s review of From Pews to Politics: Religious Sermons and Political Participation in Africa, a book by Rachel Beatty Riedl and Gwyneth McClendon. The review was published in this past Friday’s installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular (#APSRS20), and this recording is being shared as part of a collabor...

This week's news wrap featured discussions about recent election updates in Burundi and Benin, leadership changes in Lesotho, and more news regarding summer bonus content! In this episode, we highlight a panel discussion from an event with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Our very own cohost, Kim Yi Dionne, was a part of the panel, along side a familiar face, or we...

The news wrap for this week’s episode offers insights into legislative elections in Mali, COVID and politics in Malawi, and more.  This week, we highlight a panel conversation with entrepreneurs from the Africa Summit at Princeton University on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation was hosted by Bayo Okusanya , director of finance for the Afr...