Events

The Basel Summer School in African Studies aims at stimulating and consolidating a new perspective on African Studies with a focus on African Studies as “area studies”. It addresses themes theoretically, conceptually and methodologically relevant to the pursuit of reflection on the intellectual challenge of Africa as an object of knowledge on the one hand and its contribution to general scholarship on the other.

The passing of Valentin-Yves Mudimbe marks the end of an extraordinary intellectual journey, but also presents a powerful invitation to think anew. As one of Africa’s most incisive thinkers, Mudimbe left us not only a formidable critique of colonial knowledge systems but also a challenge: to imagine a different future for research on and from Africa, one in which African conceptual creativity plays a central role. This Summer School seizes the moment of his passing not to commemorate, but to respond. It invites a new generation of researchers to grapple with the foundational question Mudimbe raised: How can African Studies contribute not only to better knowledge about Africa, but also to the renewal of the very tools through which we produce knowledge, namely concepts, theories, and methods?

This year's Advanced Study Skills workshop introduces participants to the basics of writing and submitting a book review to a scholarly journal.

The Summer School takes place on-site in Basel, Switzerland, and is open for PhD students enrolled at universities in Switzerland and abroad. For PhD candidates enrolled at a university in Switzerland or in Africa, the Summer School is free of charge. The participation fee for all other PhD candidates is CHF 150.

Deadline for applications: 6 July 2025