Interim Director's Message

Glenn Adams posing. He is wearing a purple shirt and black blazer
Glenn Adams, KASC Interim Director 2021-2022

Happy New Year! I hope that you emerged from the Winter Break feeling refreshed and energized to meet the challenges and pleasures of 2023.

During Fall 2022, we embarked on the first semester of our renewed (for 2022-2026) status as a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center. Here are just a few highlights from our busy semester. 

  • This year’s inaugural installment of the annual KASC Virtual Symposium (27 SEP) featured four presenters from the Global Humanities Institute who spoke on our theme for AY 2022-2023 programming, Public Health and Well-being in Global Africa.
  • KASC supported the 2022 African Digital Humanities Symposium on African Archives and Digital Recovery
  • KASC hosted two installments of the Ujamaa Virtual Colloquium Series with presentations from KUMC researchers Ithar Hassaballa (12 OCT) and Lisa Trujillo (30 NOV).
  • KASC partnered with the Office of International Programs at KUMC to host back-to-back regional conferences (20-22 OCT) of the West African Research Association and the Mid-America Alliance for African Studies on the topic of Public Health and Well-being in Global Africa in the Shadow of COVID-19
  • KASC supported the visit of Senegalese author Boubacar Boris Diop to the KU Department of French, Francophone, and Italian Studies

Besides these NRC-supported events, KASC finished the semester with several meetings to watch the thrilling performances of African teams in the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup. The Argentinian team may have taken the trophy, but Moroccan team were the biggest winners of the tournament!

The KASC calendar for Spring 2023 is filling fast. The biggest event of the semester is the annual KASC Graduate Research Workshop, which will proceed virtually and in person on Friday, 07 APR. Save that date! In addition, KASC has scheduled four installments of the Ujamaa Virtual Colloquium Series

  • (08 FEB): Daria Trentini, Drake University and KASC Great Plains Virtual Affiliate Fellow for SPR 2023, will present work on
  • (01/08 MAR): Katie Rhine, serving as KASC Interim Director during SPR 2023, will present work on a topic TBA
  • (29 MAR): Puleng Segalo, University of South Africa and KASC African Virtual Affiliate Fellow for SPR 2023, will present work on a topic TBA
  • (19 APR): Alhaji N’jai, University of Sierra Leone and KASC African Virtual Affiliate Fellow for AUT 2022, will present work on a topic TBA.

The presentations by KASC Virtual Affiliate Fellows continue the example of Ryan Gibb, Baker University and KASC Great Plains Virtual Affiliate Fellow for AUT 2022, who presented work in the 27 APR 2022 installment of the Ujamaa Colloquium Series.

In addition to these events, stay alert for several funding opportunities. In the next few days, KASC will invite KU faculty to apply for Professional Development Travel Awards. Later in the semester, KASC will hold a special competition for Summer 2023 FLAS awards for the intensive study of Arabic, Kiswahili, or Wolof in the virtual KU Summer African Languages Institute. These awards are open not only to KU students, but also to students at other institutions. In addition, KU students who meet requirements can use the awards for study at another institution, including travel support to study abroad in Africa.

Finally, alert readers will have noted that Dr. Katie Rhine is steering the KASC ship as Interim Director during SPR 2023. She has graciously agreed to step in for me as I spend a sabbatical leave on residential fellowship at the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies in South Africa. Thanks to the wonders of the internet and the characteristic virtual component of KASC programming, you may still see me around as I participate remotely in many events. In the meantime, I wish Katie, you, and everyone at KASC a successful Spring 2023.