Jozi joins Ivy League: Harvard cements relationship with City of Gold

31 May 2017 - 13:53 By Ufrieda Ho
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Obenewa Amponsah, executive director of the SA Office of Harvard's Centre for African studies.
Obenewa Amponsah, executive director of the SA Office of Harvard's Centre for African studies.
Image: Supplied

Harvard University's decision to locate the African office of its Center for African Studies in Joburg is an opportunity to deepen bonds between the Massachusetts university, the City of Gold and the rest of the continent.

Executive director of the South African office Obenewa Amponsah says when the Rosebank office opens its doors today it will cement a long-standing relationship the Ivy League university has had with Africa.

"Next month marks 100 years of the first African who graduated from Harvard," she says.

That man was Plenyono Gbe Wolo, the son of a Kru paramount chief born in Grand Cess, Liberia. Since then many Africans have followed in his footsteps, earning their degrees at the prestigious university.

Founded in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the US.

"There is a large, established Harvard cohort in Joburg, the infrastructure of the city is good and there are two universities in the city and one in Pretoria, all of which made Joburg an obvious choice," says Amponsah, a Ghanaian American who haslived in the city for the past 11 years.

She says establishing an office on the continent amplifies the programmes, workshops, fellowships and outreach work that have been at the heart of the work of the centre.

CAS was established in 1969 on the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus. Over the decades it has allowed scholars, African and non-African, to formulate their vision for the continent.

The vision in the 21st century includes scholarship that forges Africa-wide and global collaboration and looks to solution-finding and innovation. It's also about developing ethical and moral leadership for Africans to shape the dialogue of the continent and to let their voices be heard on prominent global platforms.

Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong, faculty director of CAS, said: "For Harvard to engage Africa as an intellectual space and to locate an office in South Africa underscores the university's strong commitment to the continent. "Though located in South Africa, this is an 'Africa' office with a mandate to engage the continent intellectually."

Amponsah sees the office as a place for the outflow of scholarship, fellowship and research.

She envisages it being a space for dynamic learning that will see the Rosebank space being used as a gallery or venue to host talks, workshops and conferences.

"Academic enquiry is also about understanding the lived reality of people who may have little to do with universities; it's about being relevant in changing global conversations and developing the ability to ask different questions," she says.

• This article was originally published in The Times.

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