Indiana University’s African Studies Program is a “preferred partner” in a network of universities in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, South America, and the United States associated with the University of Bayreuth’s seven-year Cluster of Excellence grant from the German Federal Government, awarded in 2019. This new partnership emerges from initiatives undertaken by John Hanson to include the African Studies Program in the long-standing relationship between Indiana University and the University of Bayreuth.
The University of Bayreuth held a conference in late October 2019 to start conversations between representatives of the various institutions that form part of the Cluster of Excellence network. The conference, “Africa Multiple: Conversations and Building Networks,” occurred in Bayreuth on October 30-31, 2019.
Akin Adesokan was invited to speak on the history of the arts from a West African perspective for the panel focused on the knowledge production about Africa, one of the themes of the grant. Travel issues unfortunately prevented his participation.
John Hanson presented on another panel and theme of the grant, African Studies in the Digital Age, with examples from his experiences on several digital humanities projects as well as other digital projects involving the African Studies Program. Hanson also engaged in conversations to continue relations with the University of Bayreuth’s Cluster of Excellence.