European Summer School in Anthropology

Background and Scope

The European Summer School for the Anthropology of Development and Social Dynamics is an intensive seminar for PhD students, organized and hosted every two years by one of the participating research-institutions and universities. Since the early 1990s, the Summer School - or l'école doctorale as we commonly refer to it - has offered a forum of exchange to junior and senior scholars from European and non-European (mainly African) countries working on topics linked to development and social change in the countries of the Global South.

The Summer School is bilingual in French and English. A good understanding of both languages is required to participate. In a three-day session, a group of around 20 junior and 20 senior researchers come together and intensively discuss a broad range of topics, defined by the research interests of the young researchers and the topics of their doctoral theses. Every doctoral candidate gets the opportunity to give an overview of his or her thesis, to present a certain chapter or to discuss particular questions.

The European Summer School for the Anthropology of Development and Social Dynamics is a solid network that promotes collegiality and research networking, comradeship and peer relations, co-supervision and faculty examiner arrangements, mobility and joint research proposals, etc. Since late 1990s, more than 200 PhD students have presented their work, and thus benefited from insightful comments and constructive critique with purpose of improving the research.

The 13th European Summer School for the Anthropology of Development and Social Dynamics was organized by the Forum for Africa Studies/the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, 15-17 September 2021. The 14th Summer School was organized by the University of Bayreuth 24-26 May 2023.

The 15th Summer School@KULeuven/UCLouvain

The 15th European Summer School for the Anthropology of Development and Social Dynamics was jointly hosted by KULeuven and UCLouvain (Belgium), 10-13 September 2025.

Twenty PhD students presented their ongoing research with twenty faculty/senior researchers acting as discussants. Access the full programme here pdf, 3 MB.
On 11 September 9.30-10.45, Justus Lipsiuszaal, KULeuven, Prof. Adeline Masquelier, Tulane University, gave a key note on The Shape of Time in Niger: Spirits, Schoolgirls, and Lively Pasts png, 1 MB.
On 11 September, 16.00-17.30, Justus Lipsiuszaal, KULeuven, a Round-Table was hosted on Conversations on partnership in academia and development: What can we learn from each other? png, 250 kB.

Mille merci aux organisateurs/organisatrices! This was amazing!

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