Dear UW African Studies Community:
I hope this finds you well! As the curtains closes on our academic year and a beautiful Seattle summer beckons, I want to thank all of you for making African Studies Program’s 2025-2026 year truly rewarding. I am grateful to Jackson School Director Dr. Danny Hoffman, Associate Director of Division 2 Nick Gottschall, and Program Operations Specialist Sameera Ibrahim for their unwavering support.
The Program had a prodigious programming slate this year, thanks in large part to our participation in the Global Africa Transcontinental Seminar. The Global Africa Transcontinental Seminar brings together UW African Studies, the Department of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, and the African Program at Sciences Po Paris, France, and aims to engage scholars and students around contemporary research on “African Worlds” or ”Global Africa.” The virtual monthly lectures and discussions connected communities of scholars across the humanities and social sciences in North America, Africa, and Europe to discuss themes such as Black radical politics, decolonial feminisms, African technologies, environmental history, postcolonial migration, religion and modernity, and language. Through consideration of the ways in which the three continents have influenced each other and their respective institutional contexts, the Seminar brought original and situated perspectives on a range of topics and further a rich conversation across institutions, teaching traditions, and research.
This year, the African Studies Program sponsored and co-sponsored several in-person and online events. During the Fall Quarter, I lectured on “Media, Race, and the Sudanese Civil War”; Dr. Matthew Randolph, an Assistant Professor of African American Studies in the Department of American Ethnic Studies, spoke on “Pan-Africanism in Paris: Haiti and the Black Atlantic at the 1900 World’s Fair”; and Dr. Suzanna Khalifa, as Assistant Professor of Economics at Sciences Po in Paris, discussed her research on “Female Genital Cutting and Marriage in Egypt.” During the Winter Quarter, Dr. Reginold Royston (Associate Professor of African Cultural Studies in the Information School, University of Wisconsin) discussed “Futurisms and the African Now: Tech for Development and Democracy”; Dr. Bertrand Bassène (Senior Lecturer, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar) discussed “FUPILA: An 18-century Atlantic institution in the northern rivers of Sierragambia”; Dr. Catherine Conybeare, Lewis Clark Professor in the Humanities at Bryn Mawr College, joined Dr. Mark Letteney (Carol Thomas Endowed Professor of Ancient History and Assistant Professor of History) to discuss her book Augustine the African; Dr. Marie Huber (A. Verville Fellow at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and an affiliated researcher at the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin and Philipps University Marburg) presented on “Postcolonial Skies: How African airlines shaped global mobilities”; and Dr. Nicholas McLeod, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Cincinnati, presented “Raising The Black Star: West Indian Pan-Africanists and the Politics Of Nation Building In Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana.”
In the spring, the African Studies Program was pleased to host more in-person and Zoom events. In April, Dr. Sophia Monegro (Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Equity at Washington University in St. Louis) presented “Before Black Feminisms: Tracing Black Women’s Intellectual History from Santo Domingo to the Atlantic World.” Dr. HaydéeBangerezako (Assistant Professor of History at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar) lectured on “History and the Post-Colonial State: Decolonizing Historical Narratives through Burundi’s Centre of Civilisation”. In May, we sponsored an event on “Firearms and Public Health in Seattle’s East African Heritage Communities” featuring Hiwot Weldemariam (PhD student in UW School of Public Health) and Meron Girma (medical student at UW School of Medicine). Dr. Yonatan Binyam, Assistant Professor of Ancient Mediterranean and Ethiopic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, presented “What Is Troubling Josephus in the Contra Apionem? Comparative Narrative Approaches to the Question of Antisemitism in Antiquity.” Finally, the African Studies Program co-sponsored a Zoom webinar with the Department of Women, Sexuality Studies entitled “East African Queer and Trans Displacements: An Online Conversation with the Editors.” The webinar featured John<Marnell (Postdoctoral Fellow at the African Center for Migration and Society, University of the Witwatersrand), B Camminga (Lecturer in the Sociology of Gender at the University of Bristol), Barbara Bompani (Associate Professor in African History and Institutions at the University of Parma), and KamauWairuri (Lecturer in Criminology at Edinburgh Napier University). Shelley<Pryde (PhD student in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies) provided commentary.
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The African Studies Program celebrates faculty whose service and scholarship has been recognized in the past year. Dr. Lakeya Afolalu, Assistant Professor in the College of Education, received an Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award at the UW Undergraduate Research Symposium. Dr. ChristopherTounsel’s book Bounds of Blackness: African Americans, Sudan, and the Politics of Solidarity (Cornell University Press, 2024) was named a Finalist for the P. Sterling Stuckey Book Prize, which is awarded by the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora. Dr. Tounsel’s article “A Tale of Two Divestments: South Africa, Sudan, and Howard University”, was awarded Honorable Mention for the African Studies Review Best Article Prize.
Several African Studies community members also contributed public-facing scholarship and/or were cited in various media outlets. For example, Dr. Lakeya Afolalu was interviewed for the UW Daily article “New UW Medicine study reveals teen students spend a quarter of their school day on their phones, presents implications for university students.” Dr. Rachel Chapman was interviewed for the Seattle Medium’s “Heart, Soul, and Joy Program Helped Address Black Maternal Health Disparities.” Dr. Rachel Heath was interviewed for the UW Daily article “Raisin Cane’s impact on UW nightlife and business on the Ave.” Dr. Nora Kenworthy was interviewed for The American Bazaar’s article “Big Tech partners with kids’ brands on digital moderation campaign amid controversy.” Dr. Ron Krabill was featured in the University of Washington Magazine’s “More than a game” article that highlights his work with the JSIS Global Sports Lab. Dr. James Long was interviewed for KUOW’s piece “UW requires civil rights training after federal antisemitism probe”. Dr. Amanda Swarr ’s “Rethinking intersex interventions” appeared in Science magazine. Dr.Christopher Tounsel appeared on PBS NewsHour for its story “Sudan’s heritage becomes a casualty in its civil war”. Dr. Yasir Zaidan was featured on the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Africa Program podcast to discuss Sudan’s emergency response rooms and the ongoing war.
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We were thrilled to continue our tradition of supporting undergraduate and graduate students in their Africa-focused work through the Ottenberg-Winans Fellowship Fund and Mandela-Machel Scholarship Fund. The Ottenberg-Winans Fund honors anthropologists Edgar “Bud” Winans and Simon Ottenberg, two founders of the UW African Studies Program. The Mandela-Machel Scholarship endowment provides support to University students who demonstrate academic and career interests in the educational, social and economic development of the African continent and its peoples. We were excited to award Ottenberg-Winans funds to six graduate students: Minji Jeong (Political Science), Mwinkuma Nuunapor (English), Sarah Dean (Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences), Shelley Pryde (Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies), Sikose Mjali (English), and Yasir Zaidan (International Studies). Ottenberg-Winans funds were also awarded to undergraduate student Ndeye Diop (Informatics).
This year, the African Studies Program was honored to award Mandela Machel scholarships to several students participating in a new study abroad program.Established in 2000, the Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel Endowment Scholarship Fund was created to support students who demonstrate academic and career interests in the educational, social and economic development of Africa and its people. Preference is given to UW undergraduates participating in a University-sponsored study abroad program. This year, we were pleased to award the Mandela Machel Fund to Hannah Lee, Hawinet Roba, Herani Teshome, Ndeye Diop, Selome Girma, Yohana Woldegiroris, Donalda Brantley, Trevon Mitchell, and Rayana Mohamed.
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In closing, I was to reiterate my gratitude to the African Studies Program’s faculty, students, staff, and community members during this 2025-26 year. Thank you for making the African Studies Program one of the UW’s brightest gems, and I look forward to the exciting work that lies ahead for us!
Have a blessed summer,
Christopher Tounsel
Director, African Studies Program