ASC: The First Decade and Beyond

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the University of Michigan African Studies Center (ASC). Since its founding in 2008, ASC has successfully deepened, and brought higher visibility to, longstanding U-M/Africa institutional partnerships, especially in Ghana and South Africa, and supported new collaborations with universities in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Liberia, and Uganda (to name a few).

Our major commemorative event will be a three-day symposium:

The symposium will provide a glimpse into an environment rich in collaborations, research, and engagement in and about Africa, highlighting projects that have truly transformed our engagement with Africa over the last ten years, and setting a foundation as we envision our way forward.

This milestone event will feature President Mark Schlissel, President Emerita Mary Sue Coleman, panels of faculty and African partners representing our presidential initiatives—African Heritage and Humanities Initiative (AHHI); African Social Research Initiative (ASRI); Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM-Africa); the Ethiopia-Michigan Collaborative Consortium (EMC2); and the U-M African Presidential Scholars (UMAPS) program. There will be keynote addresses by Michael Sudarkasa and President Emeritus Emmet Dennis of the University of Liberia, as well as poster presentations by current students, and a roundtable featuring U-M alumni living and working in Africa.