The African Studies Program and Caribbean, Diaspora, and Atlantic Studies Program will co-sponsor an upcoming forum entitled, “Crossing Borders Symposium: Rethinking Memory and Trauma: New Directions in Cultural and Visual Studies.” This event is free and open to the public, starting at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22, through 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, in 315 Phillips Hall.

The African Studies Program (ASP) and UI International Programs invite you to attend an upcoming baraza titled, "Producing Communities and Commodities:Saraficom and Commercial Nationalism in Kenya." Featuring guest speakers Melissa Tully and David Tuwei, the lecture will take place on February 26, 2016, from 2:30-4:00 p.m. in the UCC 2390 Executive Boardroom.

The International and African Studies Programs will host yet another baraza, or discussion - this time, with Marie Kruger, an associate professor in the Department of English. Trauma on Display: Commemorating Apartheid on Constitution Hill will explore how physical sites across South Africa are devoted to the commemoration of apartheid atrocities, from Robben Island to the Apartheid Museum.

The African Studies Program (ASP) is hosting its next baraza, or discussion – this time focusing on Northern Zimbabwe, an area claimed by the Portuguese but annexed by the British in late 1890. Titled Late Precolonial Struggles, European Expansion & the Making of Colonial Authority, the talk will ask how the making of the geography of European colonial possessions in Africa was influenced by local political struggles among Africans.

The African Studies Program (ASP) is hosting an upcoming baraza and lecture with UI professor Brian Ekdale on the emerging media genre of "slum tourism." Baraza is a Swahili word that means a deliberation meeting help by a collective group of knowledgeable individuals. The talk, titled, BARAZA: Ironic Encounters: Posthumanitarian Storytelling in Slum Tourist Media, will take place on Wednesday, October 14 from 11 a.m.-12:00 p.m. in 315 Phillips Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

"The time has come for me to say goodbye to the University of Iowa where for 12 years, I had the opportunity to explore a tiny tributary of the might river of knowledge. With the exception of my village in Africa, Iowa has probably shaped my life more than any other place I have called home." As he moves on to new places, International Programs faculty fellow Leo Eko reflects on the special place one small Iowa town holds in his heart.

This year, the African Studies Program awarded the Rex D. Honey Lectureship award to Dr. Sandra Barkan, a program officer at Meridian International Center, Washington D.C. Barkan creates cultural diplomacy programs for participants in the United States Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). These programs are for visitors who come from all over the world, including Africa. Dr. Barkan announced that she had decided to donate the $1,000 honorarium that came with the Honey Lectureship Award to the University of Iowa Libraries for the purchase of African Studies materials.

Professor Sandra Hackman Barkan will present a public lecture entitled, “The Elephant and African Literatures” on Monday April 27, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in 2780 University Capitol Centre (UCC). Barkan will also receive the Rex D. Honey African Studies Lectureship Award presented by the African Studies Program. This event is free and open to the public.

On March 10, 2015, the African Studies Program, a constituent program of University of Iowa International Programs, hosted a reception for musicians of The Nile Project. The Nile Project is a collective of musicians from the eleven countries through which the Nile River flows in Eastern and North Eastern Africa.

A reception hosted by The African Studies Program for musicians of The Nile Project will be held on Tuesday March 10, 2015 from 4:30-7:00, at UCC 2780.