African Studies Centre Leiden
Africa has a population of 1.5 billion people. By 2050, this number is projected to rise to 2.5 billion. The continent’s impact on the global economy, societies but also on the environment, will therefore increase drastically.
Researchers from the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL) have been aware for decades of the crucial role that Africa plays in the world, a role that is only set to grow. In their research, they focus on four themes: politics and security; society, religion and culture; economy; and history.
Also, Africa’s voice will only become louder - by virtue of 20% of the world’s population coming from Africa - so it is important to have a thorough understanding of the continent.
The ASCL is an interfaculty institute whose aim is to gain a better understanding of Africa in a rapidly changing world. The linchpin of the ASCL is its library, which has one of the biggest and best Africa collections in Europe with unique materials that researchers from all around the world utilise in Leiden, physically and digitally.
Collaborative Research Groups
At the heart of the ASCL’s research are its eight Collaborative Research Groups (CRGs), which work in one or more of the themes above.
- Africa in the world: rethinking Africa’s global connections
- Collaboration and contestation in words: dialogues and disputes in African social realities
- Governance, entrepreneurship and inclusive development
- Conflict continuities
- Patterns of living in Southern Africa, 1780s to the present
- African languages archives
- Rethinking African history
- Trans-species perspectives on African Studies
Cooperation
The ASCL is a keystone in the academic world. It is the coordinator and one of the founders of AEGIS, the African Studies association in Europe. ASCL researchers work intensively with other universities, among others the University of Edinburgh and its Centre for African Studies, and the University of Ghana, which has one of the oldest Africa research centres on the continent.
Education
The researchers from the ASCL inspire their students with their knowledge of and passion for Africa. All students on the master’s and research master’s programmes in African Studies do a research internship in Africa. This allows them to see for themselves - and systematically - some of the impact of the continent on the world and vice versa. The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minors African Dynamics and Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development, which are coordinated by the ASCL, build on the AU Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, the ASCL has its own PhD Graduate Programme African Studies.
For more information visit the ASCL website or go directly to one of the following components:
Since 2016 the ASCL has coordinated the Leiden African Studies Assembly (LeidenASA), a network of all Leiden Africa researchers.
