What motivated you to work on/write this thesis? The African history class I took while studying abroad in Paris. My professor was very understanding of my hesitant French and my classmates were super engaged. Also, Negritude is very much the marriage of my interests: African politics, French language, and poetry. I walked out of the…
What motivated you to work on/write a thesis on the Mau mau? For me, I am more passionate about something when I have a personal connection with it and so having friends at Wesleyan who were specifically from Kenya, I had already had conversations with them about living in Kenya and what they felt about…
I’ve been having a fantastic time living ten minutes from the beach, learning little bits of Zulu, eating as much cheap and delicious fruit as I can get my hands on, and – of course – doing lots science. I’ve been working with Prof Thumbi Ndung’u at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for TB & HIV…
This past summer [2015] I went to Lagos, Nigeria with so many expectations but had no idea how they would be fulfilled. I was going there to work and to have fun. I quickly learned that it was impossible to do both simultaneously; you really do not mix business with pleasure. I had to start…
Olivia was in South Africa this summer researching post-Apartheid politics for her senior thesis. She is seeking to understand how South Africa’s post-Apartheid political transformation seemingly failed to lead to widespread economic development today. She sends these photos from her trip. Olivia speaking with with Lolo a woman who lives in RDP housing in the…
I traveled to Kenya this summer with the goal of focusing my senior thesis research on understanding the motives behind and the interpretations of the Mau Mau rebellion against the British colonial government in the late 1950s. However, after conducting interviews with Kenyans, I was left with many questions focusing on memory: specifically, how is…
Geneva and I had originally intended on showing up, driving to Badgji and building the center; however, this was not so. When we first got to Juba we met with an architect named Dunston Mundeer who we contacted before our trip to help us with an architectural design for the building, and one that would…
I went to Gabon for two weeks right after spring semester ended. I was excited and full of joy. The last time I visited Gabon, I was pretty young. About seven years old if I remember correctly. I remember not wanting to go there and wanting to enjoy my summer in France with my friends.…
Currently everyone is taking their seats. Introductory Remarks: Olayinka Lawal’15 currently introducing the key note speaker and beginning the summit. Keynote Speaker: No one is useless in this word without burdening another.-to feel useful for someone. (Hirut M’Cleod quoting someone about Thanksgiving) Hirut M’cleod’00 is talking of her experience with a homeless person and being…
Attending the Ebola information panel and researching more about the Ebola virus, I have come to an understanding that the American and international response to the widespread outbreak has been nonexistent while Western media perpetuates stereotypes of Africa. As the Ebola virus has become more widespread across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, combatant forces in…