CGHE Webinar

African research and the global science system: a CGHE webinar series

Date: Thursday, 24 November 2022 2:00 pm to Tuesday, 6 December 2022 3:00 pm
Location: Zoom webinars, registration required
Speaker(s):

This special CGHE webinar series explores the challenges facing African research in a global science system. Our four speakers bring research-informed perspectives from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa, and collectively focus on the intertwined dynamics of political economy, institutional cultures and academic mobility. Drawing on qualitative case studies, narratives and auto-ethnography, they explore the different challenges that Africa’s researchers face whilst training, working and publishing. These include personal narratives of early career researchers (Chiramba), the political economy of knowledge production (Zegeye), academic mobility and migration (Adebayo) and the role of publication requirements in academic careers (Ssentongo).

In many countries, there is a shortage of funding and time for research, and so too for doctoral supervision support. In search of funding and resources, some researchers go ‘outside’ for doctoral study, but this can reinforce academic dependency and a pejorative ‘brain drain’ discourse. The alternative is to survive material discomfort and academic precarity. University research and publishing infrastructures are often neglected, partly because academics are under pressure to prioritise international journals for their work. Drawing on debates from postcolonial theory, the series explores academic pessimism and Africa’s potential research futures.

Convenors: David Mills, Adamseged Abebe, Lynn McAlpine

Webinar 1: Biographical narratives of African post-doctoral fellows in a global academy

Thursday 24 November, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Speaker: Otilia Chiramba
Chair: Lynn McAlpine
Series introduction: David Mills

Webinar 2: The Political Economy of Knowledge Production in Ethiopian Higher Education.

Tuesday 29 November, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Speaker: Abebe Zegeye
Chair: Adamseged Abebe

Webinar 3: “Why are you still in Nigeria?”: Genealogies of Japa movement and future of the Nigerian research ecosystem

Thursday 1 December, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Speaker: Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo
Chair: David Mills

Webinar 4: Academic promotion politics in Uganda, (post)coloniality, and the predicament of African publication outlets

Tuesday 6 December, 14:00-15:00 (UK)
Speaker: Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo
Chair: David Mills

Booking

You need to register individually for each webinar in the series. To register for a webinar, visit its event page by clicking on its title above.

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