The New Uppsala University’s Forum for Africa Studies will be launched on Friday, April 14th.

Uppsala University´s Forum for Africa Studies is a center that coordinates university-wide initiatives and research with and about Africa. It brings together and promotes collaboration between researchers at Uppsala University and between researchers at African universities and Uppsala researchers. Since January 2023, Forum is a center for all nine faculties at the University and is part of the Rector's Africa Initiative. Through the new organization, Forum will become even better at building joint projects and applying for larger research funds. The forum's new form will be launched with a full-day event in the University’s Main Building. More details are in the schedule. 

-The event welcomes everyone who is interested, both from the university and the public. It is also for our partners. A long-time colleague from Burkina Faso, Professor Ludovic Kibora, will participate in a round table discussion on "How to engage with higher education and research collaborations in/with Africa." Moreover, Professor Amanda Hammar from Copenhagen, who is chair of one of the most important European networks for African Studies, will give a keynote on the theme of Critical African Studies, says Sten Hagberg, Director of Uppsala University’s Forum for Africa Studies and Professor of Cultural Anthropology.

-Uppsala University´s Forum for Africa Studies is located with us at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology because we have a strong research environment with a focus on Africa. A very important part is collaborations with colleagues in different African countries. Since 1996, we have been collaborating with the Institut des Sciences des Sociétés in Burkina Faso, and it is precisely the long-term and sustainable approach that makes a difference. That is why it is so important that the university supports the Forum. Even though we receive money from various funders, the sustainable establishment of deep and meaningful partnerships is thanks to the university.

(Image removed) Sten Hagberg in Tanzania to plan the graduate school on Decolonizing Research Methodologies

As part of the new initiative, a graduate school will be developed at the Forum.

-It will serve as a framework for collaboration. All the seminars and workshops that we already carry out today will become part of a more clearly structured research environment. Our role is to create places to meet and opportunities to develop the university's involvement on the African continent. In terms of content, we are already working to develop a graduate school on Decolonizing Research Methodologies where researchers from Sweden, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Tanzania collaborate on a two-week course with lectures and fieldwork. In October we go to Tanzania with about 20 students, says Sten Hagberg.