This report is from Ernest Akuamoah, Convenor, ANU African Studies Reading Group
Last Friday afternoon the revived ANU African Studies Reading Group held its first meeting at the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) Building.
This resumption of the groupâs activities was successful in many ways. We had fifteen (15) people in attendance, including staff and postgrads, from a pleasing wide range of academic disciplines such as Anthropology, Astrophysics, Demography, Development Studies, Environment, Engineering, History, Linguistics, Political Science and Public Policy. Perhaps for the first time, participants came from University of Canberra (UC) and the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA). The majority of participants were from Africa, representing a good spread of African countries.Â
Central to the discussion was the best way to promote African studies at ANU. Some attendees emphasized the need to engage in more academic-related activities (e.g., introducing more African-related courses) rather than social events. On the other hand, others were of the view that the two should not be mutually exclusiveânoting that such strict dichotomy may be problematic. With regards to academic activities, there was a suggestion about proposing panels on African studies for conferences held at ANU.Â
Attention was drawn to the weblog at  https://africanetwork.weblogs.anu.edu.au/ and to the 2022 report on Studying Africa in Australia by Ibrahim Abraham and Rocco Weglarz. See
It is our hope that we can work together to move African studies forward.Â
More info about our next meeting will be communicated soon. Have a great week!
Best, Ernest