African Studies Center Research Articles

The role of the public intellectual in higher education in South Africa: the socially engaged research scholarship of Lungisile Ntsebeza

This article is based on the author’s reflections on the close research working relationship she was privileged to have with Lungisile Ntsebeza at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town between 2013 and 2022. Ntsebeza’s work shows what socially engaged research could look like at universities in Africa and what this could mean for helping organic revolutionary intellectuals to forge knowledge partnerships with the oppressed and exploited on pertinent issues of justice in post-colonial contexts. How could such methodologically engaged work help us to build more equal and democratic societies through unwavering scholarly rigour, which also involves doing the risky intellectual work in often messy, seemingly contradictory, and difficult everyday contexts? How could we bring marginalised historiographical knowledges to the centre, and why do they matter? Most admirable is Ntsebeza’s profound respect for the knowledge and insights offered by oppressed, unemployed, landless and exploited people of all backgrounds in difficult, conflictual but unavoidable dialogues. Ntsebeza sees all people, in the Gramscian sense, as ‘intellectuals’ who hold important and relevant ideas born out of everyday struggle. These ideas are sacrosanct, ‘organic to everyday life’, and ‘a collective and democratising force’ (Boggs 1979, 15).

An arts-literacy intervention for adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms: outcomes of a randomised controlled trial of Pre-Texts with Kenyan adolescents

Mental health problems are prevalent among youth in low-resource countries and are further compounded by stigma and limited access to traditional treatments. The need for scalable, accessible, and stigma-free mental health interventions is urgent. We developed and tested Pre-Texts, an arts-literacy intervention that targets adolescent depression and anxiety, in Kenya. We conducted a universal RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial). Students from Kenyan high schools (N=235, ages 13-19, 53.19% female) were randomized to either Pre-Texts or a study skills control intervention. Pre-Texts involves the use of a text-such an excerpt from a novel, a physics lesson, or a technical manual-to inspire art-making that is followed by collective reflection on the process of interpretation through artmaking. Participants met daily for a week in groups of 6-12 youths for 1-h sessions. Groups were facilitated by high school graduates trained as lay-providers. This study was pre-registered at the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR; registration number: PACTR202111497122432). The trial took place between August 11th 2021 and December 18th2021. Pre-Texts produced a greater reduction in depression (d=0.52, 95% CI [0.19, 0.84]) and anxiety (d=0.51, 95% CI [0.20, 0.81]) symptoms from baseline to 1-month follow-up compared to the control group. Similarly, in a sub-sample of participants with elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, Pre-Texts produced a greater reduction in depression (d=1.10, 95% CI [0.46, 1.75]) and anxiety (d=0.54, 95% CI [-0.07, 1.45]) symptoms. Our findings suggest that a brief arts-literacy intervention with challenging school material in a group setting, implemented as an afterschool program, can reduce depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa. Future replication trials with larger sample sizes with extended follow-ups will help assess the strength and sustainability of these effects. The study was funded by grants from the Mind, Brain, and Behaviour (MBB) Initiative at Harvard University and the Center for African Studies at Harvard University.

African ʿAjamī Library Project: A Ten-Year Retrospective

Abstract This article provides an in-depth look at the past ten years of the African ʿAjamī Library project, founded and led by Dr. Fallou Ngom, Professor of Anthropology and former Director of the African Studies Center at Boston University, with the goal to serve as a digital continental open access public repository of aggregated digitized ʿAjamī texts from non-Europhone Africa. With over 31,400 pages of manuscripts – hosted at Boston University’s institutional repository, OpenBU – the African ʿAjamī Library has had over half a million individual views and downloads to-date. The article examines the types of manuscripts digitized; manuscript impact, visibility and usage; fieldwork locations and methodologies; the importance of local project teams and partnerships, and what the next ten years might look like for this project.

ALAN BARNARD (1949‐2022)

Anthropology TodayVolume 39, Issue 3 p. 26-26 Obituary ALAN BARNARD (1949-2022) Thomas Widlok, Corresponding Author Thomas Widlok [email protected] University of CologneSearch for more papers by this authorAkira Takada, Akira Takada [email protected] Kyoto UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Thomas Widlok, Corresponding Author Thomas Widlok [email protected] University of CologneSearch for more papers by this authorAkira Takada, Akira Takada [email protected] Kyoto UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 31 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12817Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. References Barnard, A. 1992a. Hunters and herders of southern Africa: A comparative ethnography of the Khoisan peoples. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Barnard, A. 1992b. The Kalahari debate: A bibliographical essay. Edinburgh: Centre of African Studies. Barnard, A. 1993. Kalahari Bushmen. Durban: Wayland. Barnard, A. 2000. Social anthropology: A concise introduction for students. Abergele: Studymates. Barnard, A. 2007. Anthropology and the Bushman. Oxford: Berg. Barnard, A. 2011. Social anthropology and human origins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Barnard, A. 2012. Genesis of symbolic thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A. Barnard & J. Spencer (eds) 2004. Encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology. London: Routledge. Volume39, Issue3June 2023Pages 26-26 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Роль Африканского континента в глобальной политике. “Год Африки” в России

Editorial office publishes the summary of a joint seminar held by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) and the World Economy and International Relations journal. The event was dedicated to the role of Africa in global politics, prospects and problems of its cooperation with Russia and other countries. The seminar on “The Role of Africa in Global Politics “the Year of Africa” in Russia” took place on March 28, 2023. The main part of the discussion included contributions by Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Academic Advisor; Irina Abramova, Head, RAS Institute of Africa, RAS Presidium Member, RAS Corresponding Member, RIAC Member; Andrey Maslov, Head, Center for African Studies at Higher School of Economics (HSE); Ivan Loshkarev, Research Fellow, Institute for International Studies (IIS), Associate Professor, Department of Political Theory, MGIMO University; Vasiliy Kashin, Head, Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, HSE, RIAC Member. The discussion also included remarks by Yulia Melnikova, RIAC Program Manager; Lora Chkoniya, Junior Research Fellow, Center for Middle East and African Studies, IIS, MGIMO University; Maya Nikolskaya, Junior Research Fellow, Center for Middle East and African Studies, IIS, MGIMO University; Sergey Karamaev, Junior Research Fellow, Group of Regional Political Problems of the South and East, IMEMO, Ibragim Ibragimov, Research Fellow, Regional Relations Study Group, IMEMO, and Vsevolod Sviridov, Expert, Center for African Studies, HSE.

Searching for Africa in Russia: The Fate of Apollon Davidson

This article is devoted to analysing the scholarly path of the outstanding Russian Africanist Apollon Davidson. His personality has already attracted scholarly attention, primarily in connection with the history of the Centre for African Studies of the Institute of Global History, which Davidson created in 1971. In this study, comprehensive analysis of the subject of Russia and Africa in Davidson’s work is conducted for the first time. Earlier research has only partially touched upon this theme. The main sources are Davidson’s works. The origins of Davidson’s interest in Africa are analyzed. This interest was closely connected with the atmosphere of Stalin’s Soviet Union, in the conditions of which the historian’s personality was formed. The analysis shows that avoiding problems related to the political situation was a conscious choice for Davidson, who sought to avoid having to write propaganda essays within the framework of the dominant ideology. The article identifies the key subjects that attracted Davidson’s attention: the formation of Africa’s image in Russia, the position of Russia in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902, the Comintern and Africa, and the main aspects of Soviet foreign policy in Africa. It is shown that Davidson was especially interested in the African travels of Nikolai Gumilyov and the surge of interest in Africa among the Russian intelligentsia of the Silver Age. The publication of most of Davidson’s studies was possible only in the post-Soviet period.

African Studies Centers – The First Inventory

This compilation of African Studies centres is intended to help those who seek opportunities (scholarships, fellowships, conferences, study positions, research grants and job opportunities) and to promote cooperation.

FAKE NEWS & HATE SPEECH: A Colloquium Report

Nigeria, the proverbial giant of Africa, has in recent times, been beset with the politics of paternalism which has translated into heightened consciousness in ethnic nationalism and extremist immoderation, all too manifest in the now very dominant paradigm of fake news and hate speech. Amidst this threatening state of confusion, the nation-state witnesses its highest level of polarization among the citizenry and records a harvest of kidnappings, abductions, raping and ritual killings, all of which the government blames on fake news and hate speech. 
 As part of its contribution in the attempt to mitigate and possibly proffer a solution to the twin monsters of fake news and hate speech, the Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies (OOCAS) at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Abuja organized a one-day Colloquium on Fake News and Hate Speech. This report, therefore, is a descriptive analysis that highlights the culture of impunity with which political elites incite and polarize the citizenry, especially on the contentious issues of religion and ethnicity.
 The paper applies the critical discourse analysis approach to evaluate the colloquium proceedings - the views, positions and propositions of discussants/participants and the ensuing communiqué that fake news and hate speech are largely products of mainstream and social media; with governments and political elites as the main culprits who exploit the volatile issues of religion, politics and ethnicity to polarize and incite.
 The paper concludes with nine communiqué recommendations including, that the mass media, especially the mainstream media, should invest more in the practice of investigative journalism and Nigeria’s governments, in general, should provide good governance, equity and justice to the citizenry; that, participants and discussants believe will curb the menace of fake news and hate speech.

Система верований Восточной Африки через призму пословиц языка суахили

Religious ideas are an integral part of any people’s life. Therefore, they are of great significance for understanding the national picture of the world. The article investigates the beliefs of the Swahili-speaking community through the prism of Swahili proverbs and sayings that reflect its polyconfessionality. In the study, the most complete and up-to-date collections of Swahili proverbs were used, such as Methali za Kikwetu (Proverbs of Our Place), Kamusi ya methali (Dictionary of Proverbs), Swahili Proverbs. Each of them contains about two thousand proverbial units. For quantitative evaluation, the largest modern corpus of Swahili proverbs compiled by the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was used. It contains more than four thousand proverbial units. Swahili proverbs explicitly mention the names of traditional spirits (mizimu, pepo, zimwi), the performers of traditional cults and rites (mchawi, mganga), the supreme creator (Mungu), the creatures that are nearby (malaika), and demonic forces (ibilisi, shetani). There are also some paroemias containing indirect reference to Islam or orthodoxy by mentioning some religious traditions. Of particular interest are the results of comparing the frequency of usage of different religious lexemes. Noteworthy is that the semantics of these words is expressed in grammatical features, especially by the tools of the class system. In the article, the study of Swahili paroemias is correlated with the history of East African religions. The research confirms the conclusions of other scholars studying religion in Eastern Africa: here traditional and Abrahamic religions peacefully coexist, transforming and complementing each other. In any proverbial unit, the lexeme ‘God’ conveys sacral attitude toward its denotatum, and universal values come to the foreground. The predominance of paroemias on religious theme proves their importance in the national picture of the world of the Swahili people. The research results are of practical importance and may be used not only in paroemiology and linguistics but also in ethnography, cultural and religion studies.

African Studies in Russia: History and the Present (to the 50th Anniversary of the Center for African Studies of the Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences)

In December 2021, the All-Russian Scientific Conference “Problems of the History of Africa and Russian-African Relations (to50th anniversary of the Centre for African Studies" was held. The event was organized by the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The four sessions were attended by experts on the history of Africa from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Yaroslavl, Kazan, as well as representatives of the Union of African Diasporas. At the Conference, the participants presented papers on African Historical Studies in the Centre and beyond. Also, they considered the topical issues of modern African studies. The reports of the Center's staff emphasized the continuity and evolution of range of issues in research throughout its history. The conference participants noted the contribution of the Center's staff to domestic and world African Studies and to the development of scientific ties between Russia and Africa. The methodology of postcolonial discourse, as well as the definition of this term in modern African studies, were widely touched upon in the discussions of the reports. Reports based on archival documents actualized the problem of historical memory. The problems of African self-determination and identity were investigated basing on the works of art. There were also presented studies on the current political problems of such regions as South Africa and the Horn of Africa. The considered reports covered a wide geographical and chronological framework. In conclusion, it was summarized that further joint scientific work of the staff of the Center for African Studies and their colleagues from different cities of Russia will be aimed at further developing of ties with African scientists. Following the results of the conference, a series of publications in scientific journals based on the presented reports is expected.

Centre for African Studies of the Institute of World History RAS: the Place in African Studies — Soviet, Russian, and Abroad

The article looks at the most important tendencies and trends in foreign (mostly English language), Soviet and Russian African Studies, from the 1960s (and even earlier, as far as Soviet African studies are concerned) util today. It offers a comparative analysis of their trajectories and assesses them from the point of view of their contribution to our understanding of Africa and to African studies. Against this backdrop the author assesses the work of the Centre for African Studies of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, its achievements, and its contribution to the historiography of African history.

African Roads to Prosperity: People en Route to Socio cultural and Economic Transformation

The edited volume entitled, ‘Roads to Prosperity: People en Route to Socio-Cultural and Economic Transformations’, is the product of a collaborative research project undertaken at the African Studies Centre at Leiden University in 2013 and 2014. The project adopts a multidisciplinary approach to study the trajectories and social construct of peoples’ transience. It focuses on the socio-economic, cultural and historical perspectives and the changing dynamics of migration in a globalising world. Migration has been a very critical global issue in history, space and time. Issues on societal transformation, internal and international migration have formed the major canon of discussion across the humanities in recent times. This has become of immense importance cross-continentally, particularly in Africa which is recounted as a space for transit and transference of legal and illegal migrants globally. The edited volume recounts the histories, emergence and consequent societal changes in specific parts of Africa that have become spaces for transit and disembarkation of African migrants in search for better socio-economic opportunities.

7 - Paradigms of Knowledge production in Africa: Reflections from the Centre for African Studies, Maputo

7 - Paradigms of Knowledge production in Africa: Reflections from the Centre for African Studies, Maputo

Introduction

Portuguese Studies vol. 37 no. 2 (2021), 149–52© Modern Humanities Research Association 2021 Introduction Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni and Jessica Falconi The present volume results from the scholarly work conducted by members of the research project NILUS — Narratives of the Indian Ocean in the Lusophone Space.1 The main purpose of the project consisted in establishing a theoretical and disciplinary connection between Lusophone Literary, Visual and Cultural Studies and the transdisciplinary field of Indian Ocean Studies. The project focused on the written and visual narratives hailing from, or related to, the territories formerly colonized by Portugal along the Indian Ocean, specifically Mozambique, Goa, and East Timor.2 This volume, therefore, constitutes an attempt to bridge a significant critical and disciplinary gap, motivated by an almost total lack of dialogue among the above-mentioned fields of study.3 This lack of dialogue becomes ever more apparent if we bear in mind the increasingly central role played by historical, anthropological, literary, and cultural studies of the Atlantic Ocean in addressing colonial and postcolonial cultural and identity-related outputs and relations from the territories that came out of Portuguese colonial rule. Consider, for instance, the influence of the notion of Brown Atlantic (Atlântico Pardo), developed by the anthropologist Miguel Vale de Almeida as a counterpoint to Paul Gilroy’s Black Atlantic, or the use of the Portugal-Brazil-Angola triangulation in comparative and transnationaloriented literary and cultural studies.4 While developing this disciplinary and critical dialogue to understand how the Indian Ocean and the former Portuguese colonies interact, illuminating each other in colonial and post-colonial cultural and literary outputs, we have encountered several challenges. Mainly, such challenges stem from the need to give voice to the historical and cultural specificities of the spaces under consideration, conveyed and mediated by the featured narratives; and to integrate these narratives into wider categories, approaching them from angles 1 The NILUS project (PTDC/CPC-ELT/4868/2014) was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and coordinated by Ana Mafalda Leite at CEsA — Center for African and Development Studies of the Lisbon School of Economics and Management, University of Lisbon. 2 Further details concerning the aims, methods and results of the Project can be found here: [accessed on 14 October 2021]. 3 In this respect, see the anthologies of theoretical texts published by project NILUS: Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni and Jessica Falconi (eds), Estudos sobre o Oceano Índico: antologia de textos teóricos (excertos) (Lisbon: CESA-ISEG, 2020), eBook: ; and Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni and Jessica Falconi (eds), Estudos sobre o Oceano Índico: antologia de textos teóricos (Lisbon: Colibri, 2019). 4 On this topic, see: Ana Mafalda Leite, Jessica Falconi and Elena Brugioni (eds), ‘Espaços transnacionais: narrativas do Oceano Índico’, Remate de males, 38.1 (2018), E-ISSN 2316–5758. Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni & Jessica Falconi 150 that emphasize the undeniable presence of this ocean, as a reference and as a multifaceted archive — historical, cultural, material, and aesthetic. Thus, the NILUS project aimed not only at identifying and applying concepts and tools from the field of Indian Ocean Studies to the analysis of these narratives — which did prove productive — but also at investigating peculiar and minor declensions5 of those aspects thought to characterize the political, economic, and cultural system of the Indian Ocean, such as circulation, migration, diaspora, material culture, among others. So far, these declensions have remained largely unexplored by ‘Lusophone’ literary studies and by the literary strand of Indian Ocean Studies. In the latter context, the literary productions from the territories focused on by the NILUS project suffer from the inequalities of the global literary system, according to what Paulo de Medeiros, referring to postcolonial literatures in Portuguese, defines as ‘redoubled forms of invisibility’.6 Which perspectives and voices can be observed and deciphered through the lens of Indian Ocean Studies? How can this field of study, in connection with Lusophone regional and national contexts, offer critical and analytical possibilities that would otherwise remain untapped? These were some of the questions that project NILUS attempted to answer — albeit partially — and that this volume endeavours to present. We believe that the articles gathered in this...

Introduction

Portuguese Studies vol. 37 no. 2 (2021), 149–52© Modern Humanities Research Association 2021 Introduction Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni and Jessica Falconi The present volume results from the scholarly work conducted by members of the research project NILUS — Narratives of the Indian Ocean in the Lusophone Space.1 The main purpose of the project consisted in establishing a theoretical and disciplinary connection between Lusophone Literary, Visual and Cultural Studies and the transdisciplinary field of Indian Ocean Studies. The project focused on the written and visual narratives hailing from, or related to, the territories formerly colonized by Portugal along the Indian Ocean, specifically Mozambique, Goa, and East Timor.2 This volume, therefore, constitutes an attempt to bridge a significant critical and disciplinary gap, motivated by an almost total lack of dialogue among the above-mentioned fields of study.3 This lack of dialogue becomes ever more apparent if we bear in mind the increasingly central role played by historical, anthropological, literary, and cultural studies of the Atlantic Ocean in addressing colonial and postcolonial cultural and identity-related outputs and relations from the territories that came out of Portuguese colonial rule. Consider, for instance, the influence of the notion of Brown Atlantic (Atlântico Pardo), developed by the anthropologist Miguel Vale de Almeida as a counterpoint to Paul Gilroy’s Black Atlantic, or the use of the Portugal-Brazil-Angola triangulation in comparative and transnationaloriented literary and cultural studies.4 While developing this disciplinary and critical dialogue to understand how the Indian Ocean and the former Portuguese colonies interact, illuminating each other in colonial and post-colonial cultural and literary outputs, we have encountered several challenges. Mainly, such challenges stem from the need to give voice to the historical and cultural specificities of the spaces under consideration, conveyed and mediated by the featured narratives; and to integrate these narratives into wider categories, approaching them from angles 1 The NILUS project (PTDC/CPC-ELT/4868/2014) was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and coordinated by Ana Mafalda Leite at CEsA — Center for African and Development Studies of the Lisbon School of Economics and Management, University of Lisbon. 2 Further details concerning the aims, methods and results of the Project can be found here: [accessed on 14 October 2021]. 3 In this respect, see the anthologies of theoretical texts published by project NILUS: Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni and Jessica Falconi (eds), Estudos sobre o Oceano Índico: antologia de textos teóricos (excertos) (Lisbon: CESA-ISEG, 2020), eBook: ; and Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni and Jessica Falconi (eds), Estudos sobre o Oceano Índico: antologia de textos teóricos (Lisbon: Colibri, 2019). 4 On this topic, see: Ana Mafalda Leite, Jessica Falconi and Elena Brugioni (eds), ‘Espaços transnacionais: narrativas do Oceano Índico’, Remate de males, 38.1 (2018), E-ISSN 2316–5758. Ana Mafalda Leite, Elena Brugioni & Jessica Falconi 150 that emphasize the undeniable presence of this ocean, as a reference and as a multifaceted archive — historical, cultural, material, and aesthetic. Thus, the NILUS project aimed not only at identifying and applying concepts and tools from the field of Indian Ocean Studies to the analysis of these narratives — which did prove productive — but also at investigating peculiar and minor declensions5 of those aspects thought to characterize the political, economic, and cultural system of the Indian Ocean, such as circulation, migration, diaspora, material culture, among others. So far, these declensions have remained largely unexplored by ‘Lusophone’ literary studies and by the literary strand of Indian Ocean Studies. In the latter context, the literary productions from the territories focused on by the NILUS project suffer from the inequalities of the global literary system, according to what Paulo de Medeiros, referring to postcolonial literatures in Portuguese, defines as ‘redoubled forms of invisibility’.6 Which perspectives and voices can be observed and deciphered through the lens of Indian Ocean Studies? How can this field of study, in connection with Lusophone regional and national contexts, offer critical and analytical possibilities that would otherwise remain untapped? These were some of the questions that project NILUS attempted to answer — albeit partially — and that this volume endeavours to present. We believe that the articles gathered in this...

Cleaning the City and Regreening the Land for Positive Chain of Food Production, and Countermeasure for Conflicts among Farmers and Herders in Sahel, West Africa

Desertification refers to the degradation of land. In the process, biological productivity is lost. This can occur for many reasons, including natural processes and human activities. It is difficult, if not impossible, to grow crops and fodder on land where desertification has occurred as the land is unfertile. This is a growing problem in countries around the world. The impact is particularly significant when desertification occurs in countries where semi-arid regions are located, as these are the places where vast quantities of plants are grown. With the demand for food on the rise as the human population continues to grow, this is becoming a bigger and bigger issue. Professor Shuichi Oyama, Centre for African Area Studies (CAAS), Kyoto University, Japan, is interested in the unequal arrangement between rural residents who grow food and city residents who consume food, which is one of the factors leading to desertification. He is keen to redress the imbalance of nutrients and prevent and reverse desertification in order that crops and fodder can be replenished and the future of civilisation protected. Oyama's focus is on regreening land where desertification has occurred, as well as cleaning up cities across the Sahel, West Africa. This involves returning organic waste, including animal manure and plant residue, from cities to degraded land in rural areas, where it can help replenish the chemical, physical and biological soil properties. The research is expected to positively impact food production and the fertility of land, as well as reaping societal benefits such as preventing ethnic conflicts among farmers and herders in central Sahel.

On Apartheid Ruins

Recent protests against colonial racism and power at the University of Cape Town have engaged specific forms of ‘formal’ artwork found on the campus. The burning of paintings during the Shackville protests in February 2016 raised a number of fundamental questions. The shack built by protesting students and referred to as Shackville was later demolished by university authorities and security but bears potency as a creative intervention. In this article, I discuss Shackville as well as ‘Echoing Voices from Within’, the RMF exhibition at the Centre for African Studies (CAS) gallery in 2016 as transformative creative intervention. Drawing from the notion of ruination developed by Anne Stoler, I argue that both forms of art intervention illustrate the current incommensurability of racialised spaces in South Africa. Navigating a post-apartheid complex terrain, creative protest engages with different notions of ruination and what it means to live within interminable colonial conditions.

African Studies: Welcome to Uganda

I was asked to briefly share my views with you about “what a Centre for African Studies in Africa. But the problem is even larger. A top-10 Google search of the phrase “African Studies” produces a list of institutions that either have centres or degree programs in this area of intellectual concern. All 10 of them are outside the African continent, in countries as diverse as The Netherlands, Australia and even China! I shouldn’t say “even China” because Africa provides one of the fastest-growing areas of intellectual curiousity in China in line with their forcible economic (some might say “neo-colonial”) thrust into the continent.

Enteric Pathogenic Infection in Young Ghanaian Children and Associations with Iron-Deficiency and Anemia

Abstract Objectives We aimed to determine the burden of Campylobacter infection among children in Greater Accra, Ghana and assess whether infection is associated with iron-deficiency and anemia. Methods Blood and stool samples were collected from a random sample of 259 children aged 6 to 59 months residing in two districts in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Blood samples were analyzed for hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, the iron status biomarkers serum ferritin (SF) and serum transferrin receptor (sTfR), and the inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP) and α-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). Anemia was defined as Hb < 11.0 g/dL and iron-deficiency as SF < 12 µg/L or sTfR > 8.3 mg/L. We used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to analyze bacterial DNA from stool samples for Campylobacter species. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess child- and household-level predictors of infection. Results Overall, 16.2% of children were positive for Campylobacter infection, with the highest infection prevalence among children under two years old. Children positive for Campylobacter infection had 3.4 times higher odds of elevated CRP levels (95% CI: 1.66, 7.05) and 3.0 times higher odds of elevated AGP levels (95% CI: 1.61, 5.76), after adjusting for child age and sex, vitamin A deficiency, malaria, and household sanitation and wealth. Campylobacter infection was associated with 2.5 times higher odds of low SF (95% CI: 1.20, 5.12) and marginally higher odds of elevated sTfR (OR: 2.10, 95% CI: 0.96, 4.58), but was not significantly associated with higher odds of anemia (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 0.69, 1.93). Ownership of small livestock, including goats, sheep, and pigs, but no other livestock, was associated with Campylobacter infection. Conclusions Our results suggest that Campylobacter infection contributes to the inflammatory burden among young children in Ghana and that infection may also negatively affect iron status. Furthermore, livestock may contribute to infectious pathogen exposure. Funding Sources University of Michigan (U-M) International Institute, U-M Office of Global Public Health, U-M African Studies Center, U-M Rackham Graduate School, U-M Nutritional Sciences Department, the Dow Chemical Company Foundation through the Dow Sustainability Fellows Program at the University of Michigan.

Associations Between Household Livestock Ownership and Anemia in Children 6 to 59 Months Old in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Abstract Objectives We aimed to assess the relationship between household livestock ownership and childhood anemia in Ghana and examine whether animal-source food (ASF) consumption or illness mediates this association. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 470 children aged 6 to 59 months in two districts of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. We measured hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, iron status biomarkers (serum ferritin and serum transferrin receptor), and inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein and α-1-acid glycoprotein). Mothers were asked about the child's consumption of ASF in the past 3 months and symptoms of illness in the past 7 days. Household livestock ownership was defined as owning no livestock, some poultry, many poultry, small livestock and poultry, or cattle, small livestock and poultry. Results Overall, 47.9% of children were anemic (Hb < 11.0 g/dL), and of these, 40.0% had iron deficiency based on low serum ferritin and 39.6% had elevated levels of inflammation. Children from households with cattle had lower odds of anemia (OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.88) compared to households with no livestock, adjusting for child and household sociodemographic characteristics. Among children 24–59 months old from households with both small livestock and poultry there were lower odds of anemia (OR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.95). Although poultry meat and cow milk consumption were higher among poultry- and cattle-owning households, respectively, we did not find that consumption of these foods mediated the association between livestock ownership and either anemia or iron deficiency. Furthermore, less than one-quarter of children consumed meat and eggs that were sourced from their household's own animals. There were no associations between livestock ownership and illness symptoms or inflammation. Conclusions Children living in households that owned small or large ruminants with poultry were less likely to be anemic, but this association was not mediated through higher consumption of ASF. Our study suggests that livestock may be beneficial in this Ghanaian context, but the pathways through which livestock impacts child anemia require further investigation. Funding Sources University of Michigan (U-M) International Institute, U-M Office of Global Public Health, U-M African Studies Center, U-M Rackham Graduate School, U-M Nutritional Sciences Department.