Institute of African Studies News

The Institute of African Studies is pleased to announce our new director, Dr. Mariana Candido.

Mariana P. Candido is the Winship Distinguished Research Professor of History, at the Departament of History, Emory University. Prof. Candido is the author of, Wealth, Land and Property in Angola: A History of Dispossession, Slavery and Inequality (2022), a finalist for the 2023 ASA Book Best Book Prize in African Studies. She is also the author of An African Slaving Port and the Atlantic World (2013), is a social history of Benguela between 1600 and 1850; and , Fronteras de esclavización: esclavitud, comercio e identidade en Benguela, 1780-1850 (2011), which was translated into Portuguese and published in Angola in 2018. Besides these three monographs, Candido has organised African Women in the Atlantic World. Property, Vulnerability and Mobility, 1680-1880, with Adam Jones (James Currey, 2019); Laços Atlânticos: África e africanos durante a era do comércio transatlântico de escravos, with Carlos Liberato, Paul Lovejoy and Renée Soulodre-La France, Luanda, Angola: Museu Nacional da Escravatura/ Ministério da Cultura; and Crossing Memories: Slavery and African Diaspora, with Ana Lucia Araujo and Paul Lovejoy (African World Press, 2011).

Candido is one of the editors of African Economic History and the Encyclopedia of Slavery, Slave Trade, and the Diaspora in African History.

Candido is currently the Nina Maria Gorrissen Fellow in History, at the American Academy in Berlin, Fall 2023 and will be a member of the School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, Spring 2024.

We are excited about the leadership of our new director and the programming that lies ahead.

Bamba Ndiaye, founder of the Dakar Publishing Academy (DPAc) organized the Praia Publishing and Grant Writing Seminar. The second edition of this yearly seminar took place at the University of Cabo Verde (UNICV) from July 11 to 13, 2024 and was designed to give participants the tools they need to write grants and publish their research in credible, peer-reviewed journals in the social, natural sciences and humanities. Along with other distinguished colleagues, such as Professors Mariana Candido, Baba Badji (Rutgers University), and Jenny Parker (WARA), the seminar provided an opportunity for lively discussions with leading journal editors and academics with backgrounds in scientific publishing and grant writing. Junior faculty members, Ph.D. and Master’s students from public universities in Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde were present. The seminar’s success also resulted from the kind support of eleven partners organizations, including the Program on African Social Research (PASR), the West African Research Association (WARA), and the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).

The inaugural summer program of our Dakar: Arts, Literature and Social Movements (May 14-June 27) was a great success. 11 students from across Emory College and Oxford College along with 4 students from Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal and 2 doctoral program assistants from the Laney Graduate School participated in the 6 week program. Dakar: Arts, Literature and Social Movements  was co-led by Emory Professor Subha Xavier and Oxford Professor Bamba Ndiaye. Students took courses in English, French and Wolof, learned about and experienced Dakar’s vibrant art scene while developing a basis in African art history and theory. This core course included several visits to art galleries, museums, and conversations with artists based in Dakar. Students then chose between two course offerings, one in Senegal’s rich literary and cinematic history and the other exploring social protest movements across the continent. Final projects included a protest map of Dakar complete with interviews with eye witnesses in Wolof, meetings with writers, filmmakers and even a visit to a film school dedicated to cinematic postproduction. Some of our students pursued individual research and creative projects while in Dakar, while others participated in internships in their chosen areas of interest with environmental and social justice organizations, an internationally renowned couturier, global think tanks, a medical clinic devoted to maternal and infant health, and more. Weekend excursions to Gorée Island, the Lampoul Desert, the coastal cities of Saint Louis and Toubab Dialaw completed this exciting trilingual summer program.

Visit the IAS Facebook and Instagram accounts to see more pictures of this wonderful adventure.

The Dakar summer program will take place again in May-June 2026. Applications will open in December 2025. Interested students should contact Jacquelyn Charlton. Students majoring or minoring in African Studies, African American Studies and/or French will be given priority.

The Institute of African Studies was pleased to host Senegalese social activist and graffiti artist Docta this past November 2023. During his visit to Emory, @doctadsg created a fabulous mural that is now on display at the Carlos Museum.

The mural tells the story of Ndaté Yalla Mbodj, the last lingeer of Waalo, who successfully led her army of warrior women against French invasion and colonization.

We hope you have the opportunity to check out this great piece of art.