Nigeria’s elections have been postponed, but that didn’t keep us from sharing our insightful conversation with Nicholas Kerr this week. Nicholas is an assistant professor of comparative politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida. We talk about his research on electoral management bodies in Africa and in particular about his research on election management and popular perceptions of election quality in Nigeria. Our conversation begins at 10:06.
Author: ufahamuafrica
Ep. 56: A conversation with Dr. Anta Sané and Dr. Ndongo Symba Sylla about the Senegalese elections
This week’s episode opens with a conversation about increasing authoritarianism in Tanzania, the shutdown of an independent newspaper’s website in Uganda, fake news ahead of the Nigerian elections, and more. For this week’s conversation, Rachel spoke with Dr. Anta Sané and Dr. Ndongo Samba Sylla about the upcoming elections in Senegal.
Ep. 55: A conversation with Ashley Currier on LGBTQ organizing in Africa
In this week’s episode, we speak with Ashley Currier, Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati. We asked her about her new book, Politicizing Sex in Contemporary Africa: Homophobia in Malawi. Her first book, Out in Africa: LGBT Organizing in Namibia and South Africa, was a finalist for a 2013 Lambda Literary Book Award. Our conversation begins at 9:44.
Ep. 54: A conversation with Jaimie Bleck on elections in Africa, music in Mali, and more
This week’s episode begins with conversation about the Congolese elections, Laurent Gbagbo’s acquittal in the International Criminal Court, and political jostling between the president and deputy president in Kenya. Our guest this week is Jaimie Bleck, an Associate Professor of Political Science and Faculty Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. In this week’s episode, we talk about her latest book, written with Nicolas van de Walle, Electoral Politics in Africa Since 1990: Continuity in Change. From her new book, we learn about common trends among African candidates, African voters’ priorities, and the issues candidates campaign on in African elections. She also tells us about an exciting project she worked on with Malian musicians live-scoring a silent film, “The Passion of Joan of Arc” at Notre Dame. Tune in to her segment at 9:09.
Ep. 53: A conversation with Beth Whitaker on Africa’s international relations
This week’s episode begins with a discussion of protests and repression in Zimbabwe, the terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya, Senegal’s upcoming election, and the re-launch of the Africa Online Digital Library. Our guest this week is Beth Whitaker, an associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Her research examines migration and security issues in Africa. We spoke with her about her new book, Africa’s International Relations: Balancing Domestic and Global Interests during the annual meeting of the African Studies Association in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2018. Some topics we cover include diaspora voting (especially in Kenya) and refugees. Our conversation begins at 10:25.
Ep. 52: A conversation with Matthew Page on the upcoming Nigerian elections
This week’s episode begins with discussion over the contested elections and recent result announcement in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a coup attempt by junior military officers in Gabon.
Our episode features a conversation with Matthew Page (@MatthewTPage), an associate fellow at Chatham House and formerly the U.S. intelligence community’s top Nigeria expert. Along with Ambassador John Campbell (@JohnCampbellcfr), Matthew wrote the new Oxford University Press book, Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know. We chatted with Matthew about their book and about Nigeria’s elections next month. His segment begins at 11:16.
Ep. 51: A conversation with Lisa Mueller on protests in Africa
We begin this week’s episode with a conversation about elections slated for 2019, and important developments in the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We also talk about current protests in Senegal and Sudan, which suits our conversation with this week’s guest, Lisa Mueller, an assistant professor of political science at Macalester College in Saint Paul Minnesota. Lisa is the author of a new book published by Cambridge University Press: Political Protest in Contemporary Africa. Kim spoke with her at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2018. Her segment begins at 8:32.
Ep. 50: Reflections on 2018 and a sneak peek into 2019
In this week’s episode of Ufahamu Africa, we do our first-ever year-end reflection. We start with what we can learn from broader trends on the continent in 2018. We also share some of our favorite books we read this year and give a sneak peek at some of the guests we’ll feature in 2019 — as well as the elections we’ll be watching. Bonus: we talk about art exhibits in Chicago and LA that we both plan to see very soon.
Ep. 49: A conversation with Laura Seay on the upcoming DRC elections and “2 minute African Politics”
In this week’s episode we talk about elections in Madagascar, Togo, and especially the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our guest is Laura Seay (@texasinafrica), a political scientist at Colby College and an expert on Congolese politics. She offers some background for our listeners on the delayed elections in Congo that are now scheduled to be held on December 30. Laura also talks about her latest creation, “2 Minute African Politics,” an Instagram feed that covers the main issues and debates she teaches in her African Politics course. Rachel’s conversation with Laura, recorded at the African Studies Association, begins at 8:55.
Ep. 48: A conversation with Michael Woldemariam on the political shakeup in the Horn of Africa
In this week’s episode, we talk about Google’s top search items in African countries in 2018, how Kenyans did in the Singapore marathon, Trump’s new Africa policy, and more. Our featured conversation is with Boston University political scientist Michael Woldemariam (@MikeWoldemariam), who shares his expertise on the Horn of Africa region, where he has conducted extensive fieldwork. He is the author of a new book published earlier this year by Cambridge University Press, Insurgent Fragmentation in the Horn of Africa: Rebellion and Its Discontents. We spoke with Mike a couple of weeks ago at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association and we thank the ASA for making their ASAPOD booth available to us for this interview. His segment begins at 7:58.
Ep. 47: A conversation with George Bob-Milliar and Lauren MacLean about student protests at KNUST in Ghana
Don’t miss our first episode featuring an interview conducted at the African Studies Association annual meeting last week. We chat with George Bob-Milliar and Lauren MacLean about recent student protests at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where George is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Political Studies. Lauren was on campus during the protests visiting Ghana for research; she is the Arthur F. Bentley Chair and Professor of political science at Indiana University at Bloomington.
In addition to telling the story of how the KNUST protests unfolded and the grievances students had that led to the protests, George and Lauren talk more broadly about what the protests (and state response) mean for academic freedom, democracy in Ghana, and more. Their segment begins at 6:51.
Ep. 46: A conversation with Evan Mwangi on translations, literature in African languages, and more
For the first time ever, Kim and Rachel are together to record this week’s episode, which includes a conversation with Northwestern University’s Evan Mwangi. Professor Mwangi talks about his most recent book, Translation in African Contexts, and the debates about literature in African languages. He also tells us about his next book, which will be about animals in African literature.