Theme: Disobedient Knowledge: Rethinking Higher Education with Africa and the Global South
May 10–12 | Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
Free and Open to the Public

Program

Join us for a three-day celebration of African and Afro-diasporic knowledge, art, and activism—marking the relaunch of the African Studies Program at Kalamazoo College. Events include lectures, art exhibits, roundtables, and community conversations with internationally acclaimed writers, artists, and scholars.

Friday, May 10 – Opening Day

🕓 4:00 PM – Opening Lecture

“Decolonizing Knowledges and Building Transformative Partnerships”
Speaker: Prof. Divine Fuh
Director, Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA), University of Cape Town, Head of the Department of Anthropology
Vice President, African Studies Association of Africa

This keynote reflects on the African Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations and interrogates the hierarchies within the global scientific ecosystem. Fuh asks: How can we build decolonial and just research partnerships?

🖼️ 5:30 PM – Art Exhibit Opening & Artist Talk

Artist: Anthony Obayomi (Nigeria)
Multimedia artist, National Geographic Explorer

Obayomi’s immersive exhibition explores the ideologies embedded in systems of measurement, cultural erasure, and Indigenous ways of knowing. His work uses photography, film, and sculpture to question how art can disrupt colonial epistemologies.

Saturday, May 11 – Roundtables & Public Lecture

🕑 2:00 PM – Roundtable: Ethics, Knowledge, and Reciprocity

Featuring:

• Dr. Cyndy Margarita García-Weyandt (Kalamazoo College)
  The Science of Our Mother Corn: Ethics of Knowledge and Reciprocal Research
• Dr. Herimampita Rarivomanantsoa (University of Antananarivo, Madagascar)
  Embedding Local Contexts in Ethical Review

This dialogue explores how Indigenous and local ethical frameworks challenge extractive research practices and colonial legacies in global academic knowledge production.

🕔 5:30 PM – Public Lecture

“African Disobedient Feminism: Madness as an Approach to Emancipation”
Speaker: Ken Bugul (Senegal)
Award-winning author of The Abandoned Baobab, Riwan, and Ashes and Embers

Through her writing, Bugul reclaims the figure of the “madwoman” as a symbol of feminist resistance. She explores multilingual expression, non-conformist thought, and writing as an unapologetic space of decolonial liberation.

Sunday, May 12 – Art, Archives, and Afro-Diasporic Futures

📍 Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership

🕚 11:00 AM – Artist Conversation

“Sadza Space: Making Cultural Memory in Detroit”
Speaker: Chido Chido Johnson (Zimbabwe/Detroit)
Sculptor, community builder, and founder of the Zimbabwe Cultural Center of Detroit

A conversation about the birth of Sadza Space, a new diasporic art hub grounded in Zimbabwean culture and community-centered creativity.

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🕛 12:00 PM – Lecture & Archival Intervention

“Untimely Periodicals: Haiti and the Archives of Caribbean Thought”
Speakers: Mehdi Chalmers & Carine Schermann
PhD candidates, Florida State University

This presentation traces the radical intellectual traditions housed in Haitian literary journals across the 20th and 21st centuries—from La Revue Indigène to Trois/Cent/Soixante. These periodicals act as living archives of poetic rebellion, political critique, and Afro-Caribbean imagination.

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🥗 12:00 PM – Community Lunch

Enjoy food and informal conversation with presenters and participants.

The African Studies Concentration is delighted to invite you to an engaging lecture by Dr Denis Regnier, an esteemed anthropologist and expert in global health education, on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, from 4:15 PM to 5:30 PM in the Olmsted Room at Kalamazoo College.

Lecture Title

Reimagining Medical Education and Healthcare in Rural Africa: Insights from the University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2025
• Time: 4:15 PM – 5:30 PM
• Location: Olmsted Room, Mandelle Hall
• Livestream

About the Lecture

In this talk, Denis Regnier explores the innovative approaches to medical education and healthcare delivery pioneered by the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. Focused on transforming health systems in rural Africa, UGHE’s model integrates social medicine, equity, and community engagement to train the next generation of health professionals. Drawing on his experiences as Head of Humanities and Social Sciences and Lead Faculty for Global Health Equity and Social Medicine, Regnier will discuss how UGHE reimagines medical education to address structural determinants of health while ensuring that marginalized communities are at the center of healthcare design and delivery. This presentation provides insights into the challenges and opportunities of implementing equitable healthcare in resource-limited settings and highlights the transformative potential of a socially grounded medical training.

About the Speaker

Denis Regnier is an anthropologist and the Lead Faculty for Global Health Equity and Social Medicine and an Assistant Professor at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. From 2020 to 2024, Regnier served as the Head of Humanities and Social Sciences at UGHE, where he led initiatives integrating the social sciences and medical humanities into global health education. His work centers on the intersections of inequality, health, global health delivery, and social justice, with a particular focus on rural and underserved communities. Regnier has extensive research and teaching experience in Madagascar and French Polynesia. He is the author of Slavery and Essentialism in Madagascar: Ethnography, History, Cognition (Routledge, 2021) and co-editor of Family Violence and Social Change in the Pacific Islands (Routledge, 2023) and Tensions et Modernités dans le Pacifique Insulaire: Relations Postcoloniales et Conflits Épistémiques (Maison des Sciences de l’Homme du Pacifique, forthcoming). With a strong background in interdisciplinary pedagogy and field-based research, Regnier’s contribution to medical education seeks to better address the structural determinants of health. His current scholarship and teaching emphasize community-centered approaches and the role of social science in advancing health equity.

We look forward to seeing you there!

We are thrilled to invite you to a special screening of the award-winning documentary Coconut Head Generation, hosted by the African Studies Concentration and Kalam’Africa, as part of the Seeing Africa Film Series.

🌍 Film Screening: Coconut Head Generation
📅 Date: Saturday, January 25
🕒 Time: 4:00 PM
📍 Location: Dewing Hall, Room 103
🎬 Languages: English, Yoruba, Pidgin English (2023, 89 min; France, Nigeria)

About the Film
At Ibadan, Nigeria’s oldest university, students transform their Thursday Film Series into a vibrant space for dialogue and debate, even in a country where dissent is often met with punishment. Their screenings of works by John Akomfrah, Jean-Marie Teno, Med Hondo, and others serve as springboards for compelling discussions on corruption, gender roles, LGBTQ+ rights, colonialism, and more.

The film captures the students’ daily lives—playing soccer, cooking instant noodles, and bonding—while also spotlighting their pivotal role in nationwide protests against police brutality. These young Nigerians face systemic challenges like frequent blackouts, overcrowding, and consequences for standing up for their beliefs, proving they are anything but the “coconut heads” older generations dismiss them as.

Critical Acclaim
“COCONUT HEAD GENERATION has tremendous educational value… Brilliant individuals, as representatives of its future.” —Educational Media Reviews Online

“Witnessing the determination and resilience of these wonderful young people results in a powerful viewing experience.” —International Cinephile Society

“A comprehensive glimpse into the multifaceted experiences and struggles faced by young people in Nigeria, prompting reflection and dialogue.” —Africa Studies Review

Co-Sponsored by: The Center for International Programs (CIP)